AFP, TAIPEI: Venus Williams finally registered her first tour win of 2016 as she powered past Lee Pei-chi 6-3, 6-2 at the Taiwan Open on Wednesday to set up a clash with Urszula Radwanska.
The top seed and world number 12 broke Taiwan's Lee, aged 21 and ranked 529th, three times in their first career meeting as she cantered to victory in less than an hour.
It put the seven-time Grand Slam champion, 35, into the second round for the first time this season after she lost her opening matches at both Auckland and the Australian Open.
Elsewhere, third seed Yulia Putintseva beat Japan's Miyu Kato 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 in round two, but fellow Kazakh seed Zarina Diyas fell 7-5, 0-6, 6-4 to Russia's Elizaveta Kulichkova.