Williams turns Dasha smasher

SERENA Williams bounced back from the most lopsided loss of her career, cruising past Daria Gavrilova 6-1, 6-2 yesterday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Williams, a 23-time grand slam winner who returned to the tour this year after the birth of her first child, needed just 65 minutes to beat Gavrilova. She will next face eighthseeded Petra Kvitova.

“You’ve got to be able to go back-to-back,” said Williams, a two-time Cincinnati champ- ion. “I don’t get byes anymore right now. I’m OK with it.”

Williams lost to Johanna Konta 6-1, 6-0 in San Jose, California, before withdrawing from last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Tenth-seeded Novak Djokovic regrouped after blowing a 3-0 second-set lead to get past Steve Johnson, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

The reigning Wimbledon champion failed to convert eight match points before he finally put Johnson away.

Wildcard Stan Wawrinka, working his way back from two left knee surgeries, advanced with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over 12th-seeded Diego Schwartzman. And unseeded Alize Cornet stunned 11th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 1-6, 7-5, 6-0.

The first full day of maindraw competition opened with 13th-seeded Madison Keys holding off Bethanie MattekSands 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to reach the second round. Wildcard Victoria Azarenka also came from behind to beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.