Australian Stosur beat Poland’s Magda Linette 7-5 6-3, and 2013 Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki eased to a 6-1 6-3 win against United States player Shelby Rogers.
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The veteran 13th seed’s power undid the Dane, who had been seeking her first win at a grand slam this year after being dumped out of the Australian Open in the first round and missing Roland Garros due to injury.
Since earning her sixth Wimbledon championship and 21st Grand Slam title a year ago, Williams has gone 18-3 at majors, with the losses coming in the US Open semi-finals, the Australian Open final and the French Open final.
Serena Williams started the defence of her Wimbledon title with a straight-sets victory over Amra Sadikovic but former world number one Caroline Wozniacki made a first-round exit on Tuesday. Obviously [winning major titles] means a lot to me, probably means more to me than to anyone, anyone.
“It takes its toll, my last few years on the tour I felt exhausted and when I hit 30 I felt being out there on the road I just felt as though it was time to move on”.
Serena Williams shakes hands at the net after her three-set victory against Christina McHale in their second round match during the Miami Open. I don’t think it was tougher than I thought. “I have been able to learn a lot, to come off, to come back a much better player”.
The American is a solid player on this surface, and that is not what Vinci needs right now as she looks to get back on track. The second-seeded Briton is looking to win his third Grand Slam and his second Wimbledon title three years after he took the crown in 2013. Her French Open ouster, No. 2 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, is on the opposite side of the draw, with the two slated to meet in the final should they both make it as far. She took a long break and only returned when she saw how well a similar program worked out for fellow countrywoman Timea Bacsinszky. “You never know what will happen”.
“For every negative comments, there’s a million good comments, ” Williams said.
Asked if she was playing with extra intensity, she said: “This is me”.
“I’ve commented a lot on that in the past”, Williams said, dismissing the enquiry. “Of course she’s the biggest favourite”.
Because Wozniacki did not compete in Fed Cup matches, she was deemed ineligible for this year’s Olympics. “It’s pretty cool”, said Williams. “I’m concerned, obviously, but I’m also very prepared”. He has won just one match on the main tour in his career and that was at last year’s Wimbledon.
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Sixth seed Roberta Vinci was given a tougher work-out than Williams before coming through in three sets against Alison Riske while 19th seed Dominika Cibulkova was a comfortable straight sets victor, underlining her potential on grass having claimed the Eastbourne title last week – she saw off Mirijana Lucic-Baroni 7-5 6-3. Sadikovic did her best to provide no sort of rhythm for Williams, hitting slices and chips with regularity, offering a variety (and a challenge) not often seen in women’s tennis.
