Play in the women's draw of the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open highlighted Day 5 action, as Victoria Azarenka kept her winning streak in tact and American Venus Williams upset the No. 3 seed, Petra Kvitova.
Azarenka, the world No. 1 WTA player, defeated Michaella Krajicek, 6-3, 7-5. It is her 24th win in a row, the best streak since Martina Hingis went 37-0 in 1997.
Williams returned to the court for the first time since withdrawing from the 2011 U.S. Open, beating Kvitova 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. The 31-year-old former No. 1 player in the world, and seven-time Grand Slam winner, had slipped to No. 134 in the WTA rankings. Williams has won this tournament three previous times.
On the men's side, No. 4 seed Andy Murray won his opening round match handily, 6-2, 6-3 over Alejandro Falla. Murray bettered his 2012 record to 15-3.
In other action, No. 6-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic and No. 13 Gilles Simon all advanced.
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