ACAPULCO, Mexico — Top-seeded Venus Williams won her first clay-court match of the season Tuesday, defeating Mathilde Johansson of France 6-2, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Mexican Open.

Williams, the defending champion, is coming off a hard-court tournament victory at Dubai on Sunday. She seemed to have few problems beating the jet-lag and making the switch to the slippery clay.

Williams has never won the French Open, the only grand-slam event on clay. But she reached the 2002 final and sounded positive about still having a chance.