Williams happy with solid first win
Top seed advances past tenacious Italian in front of capacity crowd
Serena Williams is safely through to the second round of the ASB Classic, overcoming a slow start to ease past Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi 6-3 6-2 yesterday.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the top seed, troubled by the wind early on, but she hit some unstoppable shots as she found her range.
Williams needed a single break to clinch the first set, before steamrolling through the second with an increasingly assured display.
“I thought it was solid,” said Williams. “[It was] technically my second match of the year. I’ve had a long time off from tournament play, [so] I thought I did pretty good. It’s a great start to build on.”
Her confidence was shown at 5-2 in the second set. Williams came back from a 15-40 deficit with some precise ground strokes, before clinching the contest with an angled ace.
In front of a near capacity crowd, the world No 10 took a while to get going. She had to fight hard in her second service game, fending off a break point. There were some sweetly struck shots, mixed in with a few mishits.
“It’s definitely not easy,” said Williams. “It’s always hard to play early in the season.”
As well as the conditions, the tenacious Giorgi ran, harried and chased, always forcing Williams to play another shot. At times, that made the 38-year-old uncomfortable, especially off the backhand.
“She got a lot of balls back but that’s okay,” said Williams. “I have to be able to beat people that get balls back, too.”
The turning point in the first set came in the eighth game. Williams lasered some ground strokes, and landed a backhand within millimetres of the line to set up a break, which she converted to lead 5-3. She was untroubled to close out the first set in 38 minutes, finished off by a vicious serve into the body.
In her 24th year on tour, Williams cherishes the magic moments more.
“Usually when I hit a big shot, I don’t think about it, and now it’s like ‘oh, that was nice’,” said Williams. “I appreciate it more as opposed to even last year, I hit great shots and I just moved on. It’s nice to actually pat yourself on the back.”
The second set was more clearcut. Williams broke Giorgi twice, as the Italian struggled on first serve, landing just 50 per cent.
Meanwhile, Kiwi wildcard Paige Hourigan was completely outclassed by former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki, losing 6-1, 6-0.
It always loomed as a one-sided contest — Wozniacki was playing in her 893rd match at this level, while Hourigan was making her WTA main draw debut — and so it proved.
The gulf in class was shown early, as Wozniacki won the first 11 points of the match. Hourigan eventually settled and had some moments of quality but they were rare and she won only two points on Wozniacki’s serve the entire match.
She struggled to cope with the pace and precision of Wozniacki’s game, and made plenty of unforced errors.
Hourigan, ranked world No 447, looked almost in tears as she sat in her chair at 5-0 down in the second set and the Dane completed the rout in 53 minutes.
Third seed Amanda Anisimova was impressive in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kateryna Kozlova, while world No 15 Petra Martic (Croatia), Alize Cornet (France) and Laura Siegemund (Germany) also progressed yesterday.
If you have a chance to watch Coco Gauff in action at the ASB Classic today, clear your schedule. Whether at the bach, at home, from work, or live at Stanley Street, this is a sporting opportunity not to be missed.
The 15-year-old, who plays Germany’s Laura Siegemund in her second-round match tomorrow, is a phenomenon, a special talent that comes along once in a generation.
The world No 68 has a long way to go, but all the signs are that she will reach the top. Her career is on a steep upward trajectory, and watching Gauff in this country might soon be an “I was there” moment.
After her wild deeds of 2019, highlighted by her run through qualifying to the fourth round at Wimbledon, as well as a title in Linz, which saw her ranking rise more than 800 spots, all the signs are that she will continue to improve this year.
And that’s a scary prospect. She is coming off her first proper off-season and the way she handled her firstround match on Monday in trying conditions against the experienced Viktoria Kuzman was telling.
Gauff admitted it was the windiest match she had played in, but she had mentally prepared for it.
“I knew going into the match some points weren’t going to go my way. But it was okay; I had fun still.”
And that seems the key strength; aside from all her obvious athletic and technical abilities, Gauff has a rare mentality.
She’s had to deal with so much hype since her breakthrough but seems unaffected by it.
“I’m definitely dealing with it better now,” said Gauff. “I was nervous at the US Open, but after that, I realised I can’t play for the hype, I just need to play for myself and I think it showed with my results.
“I haven’t been listening to it too much, just focusing on my own process and my own lane.”
Having said that, she admits her fame still surprises her.
“I get recognised a lot. Even celebrities recognise me. In Florida, I was still getting recognised almost every day, which is crazy for me because I don’t see myself as a recognisable person.
“A lot of kids come up to me, and they get so excited, they’re shaking. And I’m like, ‘don’t shake, I’m normal’. I can relate, because I still freak out about certain people as well.”
Gauff is uncomfortable being a role model but has no choice.
“It’s a lot of responsibility,” said Gauff. “I’m still figuring life out, I’m still young. I still have homework to turn in on time as well and all this. Sometimes the advice I tell people, I have to tell myself, too. It’s definitely crazy that people look up to me.”
She arrived in Auckland on December 30, and has enjoyed her stay.
“People in New Zealand have been so nice and welcoming — I’ve been having a blast here so far.”
Judging by the Auckland crowd reaction, the feeling is definitely mutual.