American legend Venus Williams is en route to her recovery when she features in the Sony Ericsson Open. Williams, a multiple time Grand Slam champion is playing her first tournament of the 2012 season. She faces an old warrior in Kimiko Date-krumm in the first round here.

Williams, now ranked outside the Top-100 of the world at 134 will be hoping to gain some much required momentum for the upcoming season and get back to the somewhere she truly belongs- the top of the ladder among the best. Her goal would also be remaining injury free for the rest of the season and jump up the ranks drastically.

Her opponent is the oldest player on tour, Date-krumm is ranked 78 in the world and has a win-loss record of 8-4 in 2012. She has instilled one's faith in the saying 'age no bar' and has proved it beautifully. She is one player with great control and has troubled the higher ranked players quite a bit.

The two have played once before and Williams overcame the Japanese in a three set marathon at Wimbledon last year.