Summary Venus Williams beat Madison Keys 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 at the WTA Elite Trophy in Hong Kong.
HONG KONG (AFP) - Top seed Venus Williams opened the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy in southern China with a tight three-sets win over fellow American Madison Keys on Tuesday.
The seven-time Grand Slam-winner came from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 as she seeks to end her season with a 48th career title.
The Elite Trophy, which follows last week s WTA Finals for the top eight women, is a new event featuring the players ranked nine-20 and held at a purpose-built facility in Zhuhai, which borders gambling haven Macau.
The initial draw selected four pots of three players also including Caroline Wozniacki and Jelena Jankovic who will compete for the $2.5 million purse.
Williams, aged 35 and ranked 11th in the world, is enjoying an Indian summer in her career exemplified by her victory at last month s Wuhan Open.
Later, Serbian former world number one Jelena Jankovic also got off to a winning start when she beat Italy s Sara Errani 6-4, 7-5.
