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American Venus Williams crushed her Chinese opponent Peng Shuai in straight sets here Thursday, showing she is in prime form ahead of the Australian Open.

Despite not having played a competitive game since October, the American world number eight was able to outmanoeuvre Peng at every turn in her opening game at the JB Group Classic tournament, triumphing 6-1, 6-2.

Peng, ranked 45 in the world, was unable to match Williams' athleticism and power with any consistency, crumbling to a 64-minute defeat.

Williams said she was delighted with her performance, despite the self-imposed long lay-off, during which time she graduated from design college.

"I haven't been out there in a long time, and I had to fight for every point," she told reporters after the match.

"But I felt like all the things I have practised really paid off," she added.

The fifth and sixth games of the match proved crucial, as the six-time Grand Slam singles champion started to crank up her powerful serve and lethal backhand.

Peng was up 40-15 in the fifth on her own serve, but was unable to make the lead pay as Williams, 27, ran her round the court with some line-hugging backhands, forcing an error on the last point to take a 4-1 lead.

In the next game, Peng fought back from a 40-0 deficit to take it to deuce, but Williams was able to up her game again, piling pressure on the Chinese 21-year-old and forcing her to push a backhand long.

Venus will now face either Elena Dementieva, after the Russian outfought Serbian Ana Ivanovic in the closest game of the tournament so far.

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Venus Williams

Australian Open