By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, January 17, 2016
Playing her first match in four months, Serena Williams opened her Australian Open defense with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Camila Giorgi.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. After a four-month absence, Serena Williams was in no mood for a heart-racing return.
Playing her first tournament match since her shocking US Open semifinal upset loss to Roberta Vinci that denied her Grand Slam dream, Serena Williams shook off the rust quickly today.
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The six-time Australian Open champion won four of the first give games posting a 6-4, 7-5 victory over the dangerous 35th-ranked Camila Giorgi in the Australian Open first round.
Serena, who gave herself "an A for effort", said her extended break was beneficial: She's returned refreshed.
"It helped me a lot. I think I just needed a break," Williams said. "I have been going nonstop since the Olympics London, and seeing that this is another Olympic year, I kind of wanted to start the year out really fresh and really go at it again as hard as I can.
"I just needed that time to just recover the best of my ability and get really fit, you know, and really train and get ready for the season."
Here's the Top 5 things we learned from Serena's Australian Open opener.
1. Serving Statement
Williams hit her spots expanding the serve box, dropping just four points on her first serve. The top seed wasn't blistering her fastest serves—in fact the 5-foot-6 Giorgi's average second serve speed of 98 mph was faster than Williams' average second-serve speed of 95 mph—but the champion mixed it up effectively and served with more authority as the match progressed and her arm loosened up. Williams hit six of her nine aces in the second set, won 24 of 28 points played on her serve in the second set and did not face a break in the second set.
2. Leg Press
Given the fact it was her first match in four months against a power player who can end points quickly, Williams' movement and court coverage were both sound. The 21-time Grand Slam champion was quick off the mark, used her legs effectively to get down to the low ball and showed no signs of the knee tendinitis that bothered her last season and forced her out of Hopman Cup at the start of the month.
3. Diminished Drama
Serena looked calmer and intent on reducing the stress that spiked during Slams in 2015. Last year, Williams was forced to three sets in 12 of her 27 major matches, including dropping the opening set nine times. Aiming for a faster start as temperatures soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, Williams won four of the first five games and did not commit an unforced error until the sixth game. Serena, who did not beat herself up after errors as she did at times last season, raised her Grand Slam first-round record to 61-1 with her lone opening-round loss coming to Virginie Razzano at the 2012 Roland Garros.
4. Rust on Return
Rallies were brief against the hard-hitting Italian. The impact of her four-month inactivity was most evident in the world No. 1's rusty return game. Though she broke twice in the Italian's first three service games surging out to a 4-1 lead, Williams converted just one of eight break points in the second set, including failing to break through on a horrid four double-fault game from Giorgi. The WTA leader in double faults in 2015 (a mind-blowing 458 doubles in 46 matches) hit her 12th double fault of the day to donate the lone break of the second set and a 6-5 lead to the American.
5. Yellow is Serena's Major Power Color
The canary-colored, midriff-baring Nike outfit Williams wore for her opener recalls a color choice from past Grand Slams. Serena won her first Grand Slam title while wearing a yellow Puma dress when she conquered then world No. 1 Martina Hingis in the 1999 US Open final. Williams was wearing yellow last year when she defeated Maria Sharapova to capture her sixth Australian Open crown.