Wimbledon: It’s no longer a hit-or-Miss proposition for Serena
LONDON— Now that she’s “Mrs. Williams,” per the Wimbledon chair umpire, now that she’s a mother, now that she is back on tour, Serena Williams is ready to rediscover her full complement of shots and full ability to dominate.
“Not only do I expect to win,” she said Monday after picking up a victory in her first match at the All England Club in two years, “I expect to win emphatically.”
Williams found herself in a bit of a jam against 105th- ranked Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, down by a break in the second set on a windy afternoon. And then, a fivegame run and 25 minutes later, Williams had completed the 7-5, 6-3 result.
“I have such high expectations of myself,” said Williams, whose 23 Grand Slam singles championships include seven at Wimbledon, so she was seeded 25th even though her ranking is 181st following an extended absence. “I don’t go out there expecting to ‘do well’ or ‘see what happens.’ That’s just not me.”
Day 1 at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament featured some mild surprises, such as U.S. Open champion and French Open runner-up Sloane Stephens’ third firstround exit in the past five majors, and losses by No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 6 Grigor Dimitrov (to three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka).
Milos Raonic of Thornhill opened with a 7-5, 6-0, 6-1 victory against Britain’s Liam Broady. Peter Polansky, also of Thornhill, dropped his firstround match to Austria’s Dennis Novak.
Williams has won 15 matches in a row at Wimbledon, a streak that encompasses titles in 2015 and 2016. The 36-yearold American sat out the tournament last year while pregnant; she gave birth to a daughter in September and married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November (hence the change from “Miss Williams” over the arena microphone).
This is only Williams’ second major in nearly 11⁄ 2 years. She returned at the French Open in May, and won three matches there before withdrawing with an injured pectoral muscle. She went a few weeks without even attempting to serve, while healing.
Williams double-faulted on the initial point, and dropped in some offerings in the low 80s m.p.h., rather slow for her.
Then she revved it up, getting to 115 m.p.h. in each set.