January 24, 2020 Serena Williams of the US hits a return against
China’s Wang Qiang during their women’s singles match on day five
of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. William WEST
/ AFP
Serena Williams shrugged off the absence of fans to make
a winning return from her six-month coronavirus layoff on Tuesday,
defeating lowly ranked Bernarda Pera in three sets at the WTA Top
Seed Open tournament in Kentucky.
Williams, who before Tuesday had not played a competitive game
since a Fed Cup appearance in February, came from behind to defeat
American world number 60 Pera 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and 15
minutes at the Top Seed Tennis Club in Lexington.
The former world number one’s first round victory played out to
an empty arena. This week’s tournament — the first WTA event in the
US since the COVID-19 pandemic — is taking place without
spectators.
Williams, 38, later revealed that the sedate surroundings had
suited her game.
“It was a really calm atmosphere, it was really chill,” Williams
said.
“I can’t say I disliked it. I didn’t mind it at all. I’ve been
through so many things in my career and this was totally different.
I think I won today because I was calm for once in my career.
“Kind of reminds me of junior days. Something nostalgic about
that. I kind of enjoyed it.”
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion looked to be flirting
with an early exit in the second set, but recovered from 0-40 down
at 4-4 before holding and eventually winning the set.
“I just knew I could do better,” Williams said. “It was an
interesting game. I just had to get used to her game a little bit.
She played really well.”
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Williams will now play either sister Venus or Victoria Azarenka,
who face each other later Tuesday, in the second round.
Pera had seized an early advantage in the first set, breaking
Williams to take a 3-2 lead before holding for the remainder of the
set to win 6-4.
Williams was soon in trouble on her service game in the second
set, falling 0-40 in the opening game before battling back to
hold.
Williams moved into a 3-1 lead with a break of Pera’s serve in
the fourth game, but her Croatia-born opponent hit back immediately
with a break of her own before holding to level at 3-3.
With the next two games going to serve, Williams looked to be in
trouble after falling 0-40 down in the ninth game. But she dug deep
to hold for a 5-4 lead and then broke for the set when Pera sent a
forehand return wide.
The momentum spilled into the deciding set, and another
misdirected forehand from Pera handed Williams a break to move into
a 3-1 lead.
Another break took her into a 5-1 lead and she closed out the
win by holding to love, wrapping up victory with a cross-court
forehand that left Pera stranded.
This week’s WTA tournament is the first to be staged in the
United States since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the tennis
season earlier this year.
AFP
Read more https://swordpress.com.ng/2020/08/12/serena-wins-after-six-month-covid-19-break/