Serena shakes off rust, wins opener
MELBOURNE, Australia — For the first five games of the second set, Serena Williams played almost flawless tennis in her firstround match Tuesday at the Australian Open.
Then came the rust that tends to follow a lengthy layoff, giving Belinda Bencic a glimmer of hope, before Williams regained her composure to win 6-4, 6-3. The six-time Australian Open champion improved her record in the first round of Grand Slams to 65-1.
On the men’s side, thirdseeded Milos Raonic of Canada defeated Dustin Brown 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Last year Raonic had his best Australian Open performance, advancing to the semifinals before losing to Andy Murray.
Earlier, No. 25 Gilles Simon beat U.S. wild-card entry Michael Mmoh 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
The No. 2-ranked Williams’ priority is an openera record 23rd major title. She beat a player who was seeded 12th here last year and reached a career-high No. 7 ranking in February, now she needs six more wins at Melbourne Park.
“She was just recently in the top 10,” Williams said.
“I knew it would be one of the toughest first-round matches I’ve ever played.”
In the next round she’ll meet Lucie Safarova, who beat Yanina Wickmayer 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1.
The 35-year-old Williams finished with 30 winners and 30 unforced errors, eight errors and four double faults.
Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta had their Grand Slam breakthroughs last year, both prepared for the season’s first major with earlier title runs in Australia and both advanced with straight-set victories.
U.S. Open finalist Pliskova followed her win at the Brisbane International with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The fifth-seeded Pliskova, who beat Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals before losing the final to Angelique Kerber, has never advanced beyond the third round of the Australian Open.
The ninth-seeded Konta, who won the Sydney International title last week, had a tougher time in beating Kirsten Flipkens 7-5, 6-2.