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Diyas, a rising 21-year-old from Kazakhstan, fell behind in
both sets but refused to back down.
Veteran Williams managed to win the opening set tie-breaker 8-6
and hit 32 winners in the match, sending a brief reminder of her
old form.
A seven-time Grand Slam champion, Williams has long fallen into
the background behind younger sister Serena, who will be
shooting for the Calendar Year Grand Slam and attempt to win her
22nd major title at the US Open in a couple of weeks.
"Preparations are underway (for the US Open) but it still
doesn't feel that close," Venus told reporters. "My opponent
(Diyas) played so well today. She was so determined out there."
Venus will now face ninth-ranked Ivanovic, seeded sixth in the
tournament, in the second round.
The tournament's opening day featured a couple of upsets as
ninth seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain went down to Yaroslava
Shvedova 6-4 7-6. Timea Bacsinszky, the 12th seed, also fell to
Madison Keys 6-4 6-3.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic and former world number one Jelena
Jankovic both advanced.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Sudipto
Ganguly)
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