Serena Williams back in Australian Open third round
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Serena Williams is back in the Australian Open’s third round, where her stay in the Grand Slam tournament ended a year ago.
The owner of an Open era-record 23 major singles championships moved on by grabbing the last seven games to beat 99th-ranked Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-0 in a little more than an hour today.
Williams saved all three break points she faced, hit a half-dozen aces and compiled 27 winners with just 11 unforced errors.
“I wasn’t thinking so much in the second set as I was in the first,” Williams said “I kind of just let go and see what happened.”
The 39-year-old American has won the title in Australia seven times, but her three-set loss to Wang Qiang in the third round in 2020 was Williams’ earliest exit at Melbourne Park in 14 years.
This time, Williams will try to go further with a win against Anastasia Potapova, a 19-year-old Russian who was the junior champion at Wimbledon in 2016 and currently is ranked 101st.
Potapova has yet to win a tourlevel title and will be making her debut in the third round at a major tournament.
Early play on Day 3 of the tournament saw two top-10 women’s players eliminated in eighth-seeded Bianca Andreescu and ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova.
Andreescu, a former U.S. Open champion, had her comeback from injury stalled when she fell to crafty veteran Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan 63, 6-2.
Andreescu beat Williams in the final at the 2019 U.S. Open but sat out all of 2020 due to a knee injury.
She said she felt rusty but healthy this week.
“I definitely have to get back in the groove of things,” the 20-yearold Canadian said. “I don’t feel at my best on the court, for sure, but I’m super happy I’m finally back after being off for so long. It’s such an amazing feeling being back and doing what I love.”
Hsieh’s unorthodox game includes a two-handed forehand and an unpredictable mix of pace and placement.
“She can literally redirect any single ball you give her,” Andreescu said. “She can change the rhythm. I can change the rhythm too, but she’s on another level, at least today.”
Two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova was beaten by Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
Kvitova reached the 2019 Australian Open final, losing to Naomi Osaka. She had also reached the fourth round or better at five of the past six Grand Slam tournaments.
Kvitova had 44 unforced errors against Cirstea to just 21 winners.