Venus Advances at ASB Classic With Win Over Hlavackova
December 30, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal
Venus Williams returned to action at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand on Monday night, serving up a 6-3, 7-6(1) win over Andrea Hlavackova. Venus took a commanding 4-1 lead and eventually closed the first set out, 6-3. Hlavackova a 5-3 lead in the second set, but Venus battled back, winning 11 of the last 12 points of the match to clinch the victory. Up next for Venus is Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in round two action.
"I'd never played her [Hlavackova] in singles, but I've played her many times in doubles. I knew how determined she is and that I had to play really well," Venus said. "The first match you don't always know exactly what's going to happen and that you just have to fight and try hard, and that's really what I did today. It was a great first match, and I'm looking forward to putting better points together with every game."
Meusburger pulled off a major upset by defeating seed Mona Barthel, 6-4, 6-3.
