Opening day at Australian Open: Serena Williams wins simply

Serena Williams had a wobbly begin on the Australian Open — for one sport.
After briefly falling behind, Williams swept 10 consecutive video games and beat Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1 on the primary day of the event Monday.
The victory marked the beginning of Williams’ newest bid for a record-tying twenty fourth main title. As she left the courtroom she flexed her biceps, and later she donned a T-shirt that learn “Unstoppable Queen.”
“This was a good start — vintage ’Rena,” she mentioned. “It’s definitely good. I’m pretty good at pacing myself at a Grand Slam.”
Williams wore a colourful one-legged catsuit that she mentioned was impressed by former Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner, and her sport appeared flashy, too. She misplaced solely 9 factors on her serve and hit 16 winners, and confirmed no indicators of the fitting shoulder problem that led her to tug out of a tuneup event.
She wasn’t the primary Williams to succeed in the second spherical, nevertheless. Her sister, Venus, gained a Grand Slam match for the primary time since 2019.
Playing in her twenty first Australian Open, the elder Williams beat Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2. At 40, Venus is the oldest lady on this yr’s draw and simply the sixth participant in her 40s to compete on the Australian Open.
United States’ Serena Williams gestures as she is interviewed after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund throughout their first spherical match on the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
“I like my job,” she mentioned. “No matter what happens to you in life, you always hold your head up high and give 100 million percent. And that’s what I do every single day, and that’s something I can be proud of.”
Three-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who gained the title in Melbourne two years in the past, performed the opening match in Rod Laver Arena and beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-2.
The first event of this yr’s Grand Slam season started after a three-week delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Physically I feel like everyone, their bodies are shocked, coming in and playing so suddenly after such a long break,” Osaka mentioned. “I think we’re all getting used to it and everyone is just happy to be here.”
That contains the Williams sisters.
“Listen, this is amazing,” Serena mentioned. “Last year was very scary for the world. To be able to do what I love and be able to come out and compete . . . it makes me appreciate the moment even more.”
Canadian Rebecca Marino, a former top-40 participant competing in a Grand Slam occasion for the primary time in eight years, beat wild-card entry Kimberly Birrell 6-0, 7-6 (9). Marino was sidelined by melancholy and a critical foot harm.
No. 23 Angelique Kerber, a three-time main champion and 2016 Australian Open winner, misplaced to American Bernarda Pera 6-0, 6-4.
In early males’s play, No. 14-seeded Milos Raonic defeated Federico Coria 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. American Reilly Opelka hit 18 aces and beat Lu Yen-hsun 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Serena Williams overpowered Siegemund, moved nicely and saved considered one of her finest pictures for the ultimate sport, racing ahead to flip an off-balance backhand off her shoestrings for a cross-court winner.
For the previous 4 years, Williams has been attempting to equal Australian Margaret Court’s report of 24 main titles. Williams’ most up-to-date Grand Slam championship got here at Melbourne in 2017.
“I’ve had a ton of pressure, and now I don’t feel it anymore,” she mentioned. “It’s like a huge relief. I think I was just looking at it all the wrong way in the past, and I feel totally different about it now.”
Osaka drew a possible robust opening opponent in Pavlyuchenkova, a Russian ranked thirty ninth who reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne three of the previous 4 years.
But Osaka breezed by way of the primary set in 21 minutes and barely slowed after that. She completed with extra winners than errors and misplaced solely 5 factors on her first serve.
Up to 30,000 followers — about 50% of capability — might be allowed on the event web site, however seats had been largely empty for the early matches on a cool day.
“I’m just really happy to see people in the stands,” Osaka mentioned.