Sharp Serena looks to improve
No. 1-ranked player makes quick work of Minella, talks about need to work harder
LONDON — After a week filled by a headline-grabbing, off-court tiff with Maria Sharapova and a series of apologies stemming from a magazine profile, Serena Williams got back to doing what she does best.
Extending her winning streak to 32 matches, Williams began her bid for a sixth Wimbledon championship and 17th Grand Slam title overall with a 6-1, 6-3 victory Tuesday over 92nd-ranked Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.
“You can call her pretty much unbeatable,” Minella said. “She’s playing better than ever.”
Williams, the defending champion at the All England Club, and Patrick Mouratoglou, the French coach who’s been helping on her 75-3 stretch since the start of Wimbledon last year, both gave this assessment: There are areas of her game that could use some fine-tuning.
“After today, there’s so many ways that I can improve,” the No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seeded Williams said, “and that I’m going to need to improve if I want to be in the second week of this tournament.” Really? How about some examples? “Come on,” Williams replied, tilting her head and smiling.
Here was Mouratoglou’s take after watching Williams win her first 17 service points and compile a 25-5 edge in winners on Centre Court: “Of course, not everything is perfect yet. It’s interesting to see what we need to work on.”
They also agreed she did not have too hard a time setting aside the events of the previous seven days, which included a lot of saying “I’m sorry” over things Williams was quoted as saying in a Rolling Stone story. Williams made a negative reference in a phone conversation to a player’s love life (surmised to be Sharapova) and an off-the-cuff remark about a rape case that was perceived by some as criticizing the victim.
“It hasn’t been a distraction,” Williams insisted. “I’m just here to focus on the tennis.”
She helped restore order at Wimbledon after a chaotic Day 1 that included a loss by Rafael Nadal and a scary-looking, knee-twisting tumble by Victoria Azarenka during her win.
The highest-seeded player to depart Tuesday was No. 10 Maria Kirilenko, beaten 6-3, 6-4 by teenager Laura Robson, the first British woman to beat a top-10 player at Wimbledon in 15 years.
Nadal’s straight-set loss to 135thranked Steve Darcis was still a topic of conversation, and top-seeded Novak Djokovic called it a reminder “you cannot take anything or anybody for granted.”
Djokovic dispatched 34th-ranked Florian Mayer of Germany 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, and No. 4 David Ferrer, who reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open but lost to Nadal, prevailed over Martin Alund of Argentina, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Sam Querrey, an American seeded 21st, was closed out 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 by 59th-ranked Australian Bernard Tomic.
It’s been hard for any opponent to get close against Williams, even though she said Tuesday, “I never feel invincible.”
Her practice-makes-perfect pledge might give future opponents pause, starting with Caroline Garcia, who will face Williams in the second round.