Beijing  - Serena Williams will return to the top WTA ranking thanks to Tuesday's 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Russian Ekaterina Makarova in the second round of the China Open.

The door was opened for the American - under a possible Grand Slam suspension cloud after a US Open semi-final boilover - as Russian Dinara Safina was beaten in the second round by Shuai Zhang of China on Monday.

Williams, seeded second, did what she needed and will resume the lead on the WTA table on Monday after holding number one for 25 weeks, the last time in April.

The American becomes the third to take the honour in 2009 after Safina and Serb Jelena Jankovic.

Russians earned a hat-trick of wins under clear skies in the capital, with Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva, the number four, returning to the scene of her 2008 Games triumph.

Dementieva beat Hungarian number 51 Melinda Czink 6-4, 6-3 as she aims for a fourth title this season and a third-round match with China's Li Na.

Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva dismissed Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-0 while resurgent Maria Sharapova rallied from 5-2 down in the third set against ninth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 to follow up after claiming the Tokyo title last weekend.

The contest was break-filled with 15 chances between the pair over three hours.

Italian 10th seed Flavia Pennetta ousted Katerina Bondarenko of Ukraine 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 while 14th seed Marion Bartoli stopped Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-3.

On the men's side, Marat Safin marked another step in his road to next month's retirement by advancing over Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-2 while American James Blake defeated German Florian Mayer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

"The other guy couldn't move around the court, which I figured out pretty quickly," said the two-time Grand Slam champion Safin. "I felt confident after the first break.

"I just had to stay focused. It's tough to play and motivate yourself knowing you'll retire in a few months. But I want to win every match, it's a natural feeling."

Ivan Ljubicic set up three match points with his 22nd ace, converting on the first to defeat Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 6-1.

Rafael Nadal was playing for the first time in three weeks since the US Open, facing Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the first round. (dpa)