TOKYO -- Venus Williams overpowered Mona Barthel of Germany 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday to advance to the second round of the Pan Pacific Open. Williams needed just 1 hour, 4 minutes at Ariake Colosseum to dispatch Barthel and set up a second-round matchup with top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who has a first-round bye. Williams is 2-0 in head-to-head matches against Azarenka. They last met three years ago in the Dubai Duty Free final. "Ive watched many of her matches," Williams said. "Especially the big matches against Serena. Watching them at the U.S. Open was awesome, and hopefully that will help me." Top-ranked Serena Williams, who won her 17th Grand Slam singles title with a three-set win over Azarenka at the U.S. Open, pulled out of the $2.3 million tournament, saying she needed time to recover from a busy summer playing schedule. No. 3-ranked Maria Sharapova also pulled out of the Tokyo tournament because of a right-shoulder injury that kept her out of the U.S. Open. In other matches, ninth-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States beat Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2 while 12th-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia came from a set down for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Alize Cornet of France. Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, seeded fourteenth, defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (4), 7-5. Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-4, 6-4. Gerry Cheevers Jersey . Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. Serge Ibaka returned to the Thunder lineup from a calf injury that was supposed to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason and the results were sparkling. Jaromir Jagr Jersey .ca! There is plenty of blame to be shared as a result of the most recent NHL player (Pittsburghs Brooks Orpik) to be evacuated from the ice on a stretcher following an ugly incident Saturday night in Boston. http://www.bruinsstore.com/authentic-ray-bourque-bruins-jersey/ .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan. Cam Neely Jersey . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. Bobby Orr Jersey . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason.NEW YORK, N.Y. - His near-record mile alone would have made for a notable night, but Cam Levins wanted to go one better.The distance runner from Black Creek, B.C., won the mile at the Armory Track Invitational on Saturday night, posting a world-leading time for this season that was just shy of the Canadian indoor record.Less than 30 minutes later, he won the two-mile race, overtaking Olympic silver medallist Galen Rupp of the U.S. on the final lap.I feel the strongest and fittest I ever have, Levins told reporters after his second race. I felt fresh and good, I knew I was fit, but I dont know if I was expecting to come back and run a good two-mile after my mile, thats for sure.Im really pleased with it. And it proved that Im fit.The 25-year-old, who won bronze in a thrilling 10,000-metre race at last summers Commonwealth Games, ran three minutes 54.74 seconds in the mile, missing Nate Brannens Canadian record by about four-tenths of a second.He then found a spot along the way to sit and rest briefly before getting up to prepare for the two-mile.Levins trailed Ruppp, his training partner with the Oregon Project in Portland, on the last lap before surging past him to finish in 8:15.dddddddddddd8.When I got to there, Im like Oh, man, Galens not pulling away from me, maybe I got a shot at it, Levins said. I thought he was just going to start hammering that last lap, frankly. And when he didnt, Im like, Oh, I’m still here, maybe I can make a move on him. And then he didnt really respond.Levins is no stranger to tough doubles. The former Southern Utah star won both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres in his final NCAA season, earning the Bowerman award as the U.S. colleges top track athlete. He also ran both events at the 2012 London Olympics.Hell run the 5,000 at the prestigious Millrose Games in New York on Feb 14.Shawnacy Barber, a Canadian competing for the University of Akron, won the pole vault at the Armory Invitational.Akeem Haynes of Calgary ran a blistering 6.51 in an indoor 60-metre race Saturday in Arizona. Its the fastest time by a Canadian since 1997, when Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin both ran that time. 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