The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Williams talks up beaten Bencic
Serena Williams called Belinda Bencic the toughest first-round opponent of her career after beating her at the Australian Open.
Williams delivered an emphatic message about her form and fitness as the American breezed through a fiendish clash with the Swiss.
Williams has only played two competitive matches since the US Open in September and many predicted a tough test against Bencic, underranked due to injuries at 59 in the world.
The No 2 seed, however, showed few signs of rust on Rod Laver Arena, dispatching Bencic 6-4 6-3 to advance to round two.
Williams will now face the Czech Lucie Safarova in a repeat of the 2015 French Open final, which the 22-time grand-slam champion narrowly won.
After losing in the US Open last four in September, Williams skipped the rest of last year in a bid to overcome a niggling shoulder problem.
Her return in Auckland earlier this month did little to inspire confidence, however, as she was beaten by fellow American Madison Brengle, ranked 72nd in the world.
Bencic has more pedigree, as well as a victory over Williams in their previous meeting in 2015, but she ran into the 35-year-old in defiant mood rather than struggling to rediscover her groove.
Williams hit eight aces – often a strong indicator of her form – and 30 winners, and despite a minor slip-up in the second set, never looked in danger of defeat.
“She was just recently in the top 10 so I knew it would be one of the toughest first-round matches I’ve ever played,” Williams said.
“She’s a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well. I just wasn’t as aggressive at the end as I was during those games.
“She started playing better. I made a few errors on some key points but, for the most part, I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out.”
Her next opponent Safarova fended off nine match points before defeating Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-1.
Safarova saved five match points when trailing 6-5 in the second set and then four more in the tie-break to force a decider.
“Yes, I heard it was nine,” Safarova said. “But I was like, I’m just going to go for it and if she closes the match, well OK, but I’m just going to play my game. It’s exciting.”
Fifth seed Karolina Pliskova is also safely through to the second round, along with Britain’s Johanna Konta, Agnieszka Radwanska, Dominika Cibulkova and Caroline Wozniacki.
Other winners on day two included Timea Bacsinszky, 6-4 3-6 7-5 over Camila Giorgi, Barbora Strycova, 6-3 6-2 against Elizaveta Kulichkova, and Su-Wei Hsieh, who capitalised on Karin Knapp’s retirement.