Serena Wins in Grand Slam Return

May 29, 2018 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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Photo Credit: Seth Sarelson/Long Island Tennis Magazine

 

Playing in her first Grand Slam match since winning the 2017 Australian Open final, American Serena Williams defeated Kristyna Pliskova 7-6(4), 6-4 to book her spot in the French Open second round on Tuesday.

“I think the match went well. It wasn’t an easy match, because the beginning there were so many aces,” said Serena. “I knew that after her first game of serving, I said, ‘Okay, I have to serve really well today. I need to really be on my game serving-wise, because there’s not going to be a tremendous amount of rallies.’ I was struggling to get in a little rhythm because it was so much acing, so many aces going on.”

In the first set tiebreaker, the lack of rhythm hurt Serena as she saw Pliskova jump out to a 3-0 lead in the breaker. But Serena rattled off the next six points to go ahead 6-3, and closed out the set a couple of points later.

The second set unfolded in the exact opposite way as the first set, with five breaks of serve following a set with no breaks. Serena would secure the decisive break at 4-3 in the second set, and go on to serve out the match.

“I feel like I’m on the right track,” added Serena. “You know, I have been putting a lot of work in on the court, off the court, on the court, on the court, off the court; that’s kind of been my life. I have been really enjoying it. Hopefully the results continue to show.”

Serena looks to continue her run when she plays the No. 17 seed Ashleigh Barty, who was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Natalia Vikhlyantseva.

Former champion and No. 3 seed Garbine Muguruza got past a difficult first round opponent in Svetlana Kuznetsova on Tuesday as she advanced to the second round with a 7-6(7), 6-2 victory.

No. 12 seed Angelique Kerber, No. 28 seed Maria Sharapova, as well Americans Taylor Townsend and Bethanie Mattek-Sands were other notable winner in the women’s singles draw on Tuesday.

 


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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