Serena Williams began her Australian Open campaign with a tough 6-4, 7-5 win over hard-hitting Italian Camila Giorgi.
Advertisement
“I haven’t played in a long time, but I have been playing for 30 years so – I try to focus on that, ” said Williams, who withdrew from the Hopman Cup earlier this month after playing just one set because of inflammation in her left knee.
Giorgi managed to stay with Williams until the 11th game in the second set, but the latter broke thanks to a double fault before closing out her win.
Williams’ next opponent will be 18-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina, who beat Croatia’s Ana Konjuh 6-4, 6-3, and she faces a potential quarterfinal match against 2015 finalist Maria Sharapova, who reached the third round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
A 12-minute opening game in the second set, won by Giorgi, set the tone for a close match with Williams’ rustiness starting to show as she failed to find the killer instinct.
Novak Djokovic hailed the flawless start to his Australian Open campaign after dispatching South Korea’s Hyeon Chung in straight sets, with the Serbian particularly pleased with the way he served.
“It’s an absolute pleasure to come back to Rod Laver Arena, it’s the most successful court in my career and there have been many memorable moments in the matches I’ve played here”, he said. “I haven’t played many matches in many weeks, it was great to come out here and start my season”, Sharapova said.
Williams advances to the second round on Wednesday, when she will play the victor of Monday’s match between Jelena Ostapenko and Su-Wei Hsieh.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova earned the distinction of winning the first completed match at the tournament when she beat Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum, avenging her upset three-set loss in the first round here in 2014. I obviously will ask Venus what she thought of the match, and I’m sure (coach) Patrick (Mouratoglou) will know everything about her match and stuff.
“It’s irrelevant how old she is because she’s such a champion with so much experience and knowledge”, said Konta.
ATP chairman Chris Kermode and the Tennis Integrity Unit have rejected news reports that match-fixing has gone unchecked in the sport.
For the second time in three days, Novak Djokovic won a match at the Australian Open and was confronted by questions about match-fixing in the sport. “I’m not good at those”, she said.
Advertisement
Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki suffered a similar fate at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva, while Sam Stosur, the former US Open champion, made her now traditional early exit from her home grand slam. Win or lose, there is always a next time for me and for them. “I was approached through people that were working with me at that time, that were with my team”, Djokovic said from Melbourne, where he is playing in the Australian Open. No. 22 Ivo Karlovic retired due to a left knee injury while trailing Federico Delbonis 7-6 (4), 6-4, 2-1.
