Previous world number one Venus Williams traveled through the first round of the Cincinnati Masters when she crushed compatriot Lauren Davis in straight sets on Monday.

Wild card Williams won 7-5 6-2 on center court as she kept up her dash of failing to have lost a set to Davis, having beaten her four times.

Williams fended off seven of the eight break points she faced and Won 61% of points when returning the Davis second serve.

Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva and Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich prior won three-set matches.

Putintseva vanquished Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-2 7-6(3) 6-3 and Sasnovich beat Astra Sharma of Australia 6-1 4 6-1.