Clijsters, Williams Make Short Work of Foes

There are three possible ways to evaluate the progress of Venus Williams and Kim Clijsters after the first two rounds at the Australian Open.

A) Their oh-so-easy path following two matches speaks volumes about their respective talent and ability.

B) The way they have dominated their opponents speaks volumes about the shallow talent pool on the women’s tour.

C) A and B.

Evidence that C is the correct answer was submitted today at Melbourne Park. The second-seeded Clijsters, who was on crutches after spraining her ankle in a tune-up event this month in Perth, defeated overmatched Italian, Maria Elena Camerin, 6-0, 6-0, in 50 minutes.

It is the fourth time Clijsters has defeated an opponent, 6-0, 6-0, at a Grand Slam event. She has dropped five games in two matches.

The third-seeded Williams needed 56 minutes to dispatch 17-year-old Vera Douchevina of Russia, 6-4, 6-2, hitting three aces and double-faulting five times. Williams had nearly the same number of winners to unforced errors, 22 to 23.

Unlike Camerin, Douchevina is considered a potential star, one of the numerous Russian baseliners blessed with power. Then again, the same things have been said about Anna Kournikova, Elena Dementieva and Elena Bovina, to name a few, and they have not quite been able to crack the highest level.

Williams said Douchevina was quite good for her age.

“I had a few more errors than what I wanted to, but really the whole goal was just to keep hitting out,” Williams said. “I felt that I could have pulled back, of course, and cut my errors in half. But I really wanted to go after her and play well.

“Also she hit a lot of balls back. Her second serve was quite slower than what I expected. I think it threw me off a little bit at first. I had to move up and adjust to that.”

The path for Williams has not been quite as easy as Clijsters’ run through the draw. But Williams, who had not played an official tournament since losing in the Wimbledon final in July, has not shown major signs of rust in her two matches.

Clijsters and Williams could possibly meet in the semifinals, if form holds. In the third round, Williams will face Lisa Raymond, and Clijsters will play Dinara Safina of Russia, the younger sister of Marat Safin.

Clijsters gave her early verdict of Williams’ level after the layoff.

“She’s obviously playing well,” Clijsters said. “She must have been working hard. She looks very fit and she looks very strong. I saw her serving really well. I think her second serve was maybe not as good the first day. She’s still Venus. You know, she still is so quick and she still probably is the best mover out there.”

Williams, quite wisely, is taking the conservative approach with her serve, not wanting a setback after months of dealing with an abdominal injury.

“I’m not really going for speed really -- just placement and force,” she said. “Maybe I’ll concentrate on that in some of my next matches, the speed.”

And it wouldn’t be a Williams news conference without an abundance of non-tennis questions. The final one was clearly unwelcome as she was asked about a report that she and her younger sister Serena were attempting to gain custody of the three children of their sister Yetunde, who was slain in September.

“Oh my God,” Venus said, looking surprised. “Wrong place, wrong time to talk about that.”

Actually, court records in Riverside Country have shown that Oracene Price, the mother and coach of Venus and Serena, is the “proposed guardian” of the three children, and that temporary guardianship for all three kids was granted to Oracene on Nov. 10 by Riverside County Judge Stephen Gunnison, noting she has been “the primary caregiver to the children since the time of Ms. Price’s death.”

Times staff writer Lance Pugmire contributed to this report.

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Australian Open

Today on TV: ESPN, 11 a.m. (delayed); ESPN2, 8 p.m.

* Men’s seeded winners: Juan Carlos Ferrero (3), Spain; David Nalbandian (8), Argentina; Jiri Novak (14), Czech Republic.

* Women’s seeded winners: Anastasia Myskina (6), Russia; Patty Schnyder (22), Switzerland; Lina Krasnoroutskaya (23), Russia; Silvia Farina Elia (20), Italy; Paola Suarez (12), Argentina; Chanda Rubin (9); Kim Clijsters (2), Belgium; Nathalie Dechy (29), France; Venus Williams (3).

FRIDAY’S FEATURED MATCHES

* Marat Safin, Russia vs. Todd Martin

* Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia

* Andre Agassi vs. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden

* Andy Roddick vs. Taylor Dent