Maria Sharapova defeated Madison Keys in second round while Venus Williams exited early in the first round of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Tuesday.

Sharapova got off to a fast start, conquering the American Keys to a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Keys picked up her game on the second set, hitting twice as many winners that forced the Russian to a deciding set. The 27-year-old Sharapova settled down and kept her composure in the deciding set breaking Keys' serve to go up 3-0. She went onto win the match.

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"I didn't have a great week last week," Sharapova said after the match, indicating the third round exit at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. "You want to change your attitude and your performance and obviously the result."

The five-time Grand Slam champion advances to the third round, facing the winner of the match between Karin Knapp and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

In other matches, Rogers Cup runner-up Williams exited the tournament after a first-round loss against 16th seed Lucie Safarova 7(7)-6(2), 3-6, 4-6 that lasted two and a half hours.

''I wish I could have felt today like I did in Montreal, just to make it more competitive,'' Williams said.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams arrived in Cincinnati Sunday evening and had an early Tuesday matchup against Safarova.

The 34-year-old Williams said that "it was definitely a quick turnaround."

"Maybe it would have been a bit better to play a little later in the day," Williams added.

TagsVenus Williams, Victoria Azarenka, Lucie Safarova, Madison Keys