Serena’s emotional rebound translates to opening victory
PARIS — This was one mistake too far for Serena Williams.
Sure, the bad backhand put her behind 15-30 at the outset of the second set of her opening match at Roland Garros on Monday. What made the miscue so bothersome? She had dropped the first set against 83rd-ranked Vitalia Diatchenko — and Williams’ unforced error total was at 15 on a windy evening.
So she reacted by throwing her head back and letting out a scream. Then she stepped to the baseline to serve and stomped her right foot. And simple as that, Williams righted herself: She won 11 of the next 13 points, and 12 of 13 games the rest of the way, to come back for a disappointing-todominant 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory at the French Open.
The turning point
“I just was so frustrated at that point, because I have been training well,” Williams said. “The past week and a half has been really good, and, God, it was, like, ‘This isn’t the Serena I have been practicing with — or that I see every day.’ I just let out this roar, and here I am. Yeah, so maybe that helped.”
She made her return to Grand Slam competition in Paris a year ago after missing five majors because of the birth of her first child. Williams pulled out before the fourth round because of an injured chest muscle, then was the runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Williams came to Paris this time having withdrawn from each of her past two tournaments because of a balky left knee, and the one before that because of illness. She had played only nine matches all season, and so her pursuit of a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title — fourth at Roland Garros — seemed no sure thing.
That goal seemed further from her grasp with the way things began in Court Philippe Chatrier against Diatchenko, a Russian who hits two-fisted shots off both sides and upset Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon last year.
“I just got nervous out there and I stopped moving my feet. And (it) was, like, concrete blocks on my feet. I was like, ‘You got to do something,’ ” Williams said. “I was just off, basically. And then instead of correcting it, I just kept getting worse.”
Could the nearly impossible happen? Could Williams lose in the first round of a major?
Wozniacki eliminated
She had done so once before in 70 Slam appearances — the French Open, in 2012. But once Williams recalibrated everything, she took charge.
One of her good friends, and another former No. 1ranked player, Caroline Wozniacki, went in the opposite direction Monday, going from playing a perfect set to quickly fading against an opponent who never previously had won a Grand Slam match.
In a performance emblematic of a difficult season, last year’s Australian Open champion bowed out in the first round 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 to 68th-ranked Veronika Kudermetova of Russia.
“Definitely wasn’t the best match I’ve ever played,” said the 13th-seeded Wozniacki, who had 15 winners to Kudermetova's 40.
The way-up-then-waydown showing by Wozniacki stretched her losing streak to four matches.
Other seeded players exiting on Day 2 included No. 12 Daniil Medvedev, No. 15 Nikoloz Basilashvili, No. 20 Denis Shapovalov and No. 32 Frances Tiafoe on the men’s side, along with No. 18 Julia Goerges on the women’s.
Tiafoe, a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open in January, vomited a couple of times and his game came apart late in a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 loss to Filip Krajinovic of Serbia.
“Obviously very depleted and had nothing really in me,” said Tiafoe, 0-4 at Roland Garros.
Before Williams took over the main stadium, Rafael Nadal began his bid for a record 12th championship in Paris and Novak Djokovic got started on his quest for a fourth consecutive major trophy.
Both advanced after winning in straight sets.