Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka make a fast start at the Australian Open.
After losing the opening game, Williams won 10 games in a row, beating Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1 on the first day of the tournament in Melbourne. Monday’s win marked the start of Williams’ latest bid for a record-tying 24th major title.
Williams, the number 10 seed, came to court in a colorful, one-legged catsuit, and her play looked flashy too. She lost only nine points on her serve and hit 16 winners. She saved one of her best shots for the last game and ran forward to remove an off-balance backhand from her shoelaces for a cross court winner.
“This was a great start – vintage Rena,” said Williams, who became the only woman since the start of the Open era in 1968 to play 100 Australian Open games (record 88-12). ‘It’s absolutely fine. I’m pretty good at pacing myself at a Grand Slam. ‘
For the past four years, Williams has been trying to match the Australian Margaret Court’s record for major titles. Williams’ most recent Grand Slam Championship came in Melbourne in 2017.
“I’ve been a lot of pressure, and now I don’t feel it anymore,” she said. ‘It’s like a huge relief. I think I just looked at it all wrong in the past, and I feel completely different about it now. “
Williams wore a colorful one-legged catsuit that she said was inspired by former Olympic sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner, and her game looked flashy too. She lost only nine points on her serve and hit 16 winners, showing no signs of the right shoulder problem that caused her to withdraw from a tune-up tournament.
No. 3 Osaka, who won the title in Melbourne two years ago, played the first match of the tournament at Rod Laver Arena, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 6-2.
The first tournament of this year’s Grand Slam season kicked off after a three-week delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Physically I feel like everyone else – their bodies are shocked, come in and play so suddenly after such a long hiatus,” said Osaka. “I think we are all getting used to it, and everyone is just happy to be here.”
Osaka drew a potentially tricky opening player in Pavlyuchenkova, a 39th-placed Russian player who reached the quarter finals in Melbourne in three of the past four years. But Osaka got through the first set in 21 minutes and then barely slowed down; she ended up with more winners than mistakes, losing just five points on her first serve.
Osaka has won 15 consecutive games, including the US Open final in September, since her last defeat in a Fed Cup game a year ago.
Serena Williams’ older sister Venus, a seven-time major champion, won the first match at Margaret Court Arena with a 7-5, 6-2 decision over Kirsten Flipkens.
The win ended Venus Williams’ four-game losing streak with majors, the longest in her career. The win came in Williams’ 88th Grand Slam game, a women’s record.
At 40, Williams is the oldest woman in this year’s drawing and only the sixth player in her 40s to compete in the Australian Open.
“I like my job,” she said. ‘Whatever happens to you in life, you always keep your head up and give 100 million percent. And that’s what I do every day, and I can be proud of it. ”
Simona Halep quickly hit the second round of the Australian Open on Monday with a business 6-2, 6-1 demolition of local wildcard Lizette Cabrera.
The second-placed Romanian was looking good as she apparently moved her opponent across the Rod Laver Arena pitch at will and seized her chances of a breaking point with enthusiasm.
Other Grand Slam women’s singles titles in action on opening day include two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu.
Canadian eighth seed Andreescu had to work hard on her return to the competition after 15 months, with the 2019 US Open winner digging deep to beat Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
The 20-year-old, who played her first game since retiring from the 2019 WTA Finals in Shenzhen with a knee injury, moved confidently on the court and showed no signs of discomfort against the world’s No. 138.
No. 23 Angelique Kerber, three-time champion and winner of the Australian Open 2016, lost to the American Bernarda Pera 6-0, 6-4.
Canadian Rebecca Marino, a former top-40 player who took part in a Grand Slam event for the first time in eight years, beat wildcard entry Kimberly Birrell 6-0, 7-6 (9). Marino had been sidelined by depression and a serious foot injury.
‘I still have my big raise and big forehead. That hasn’t changed that much, ”said Marino. “And I am confident that I know that I will be back.”
Up to 30,000 fans – about 50% of the capacity – are allowed on the tournament site, but seats were usually empty before the start of the game on a cool morning.
“Listen, this is great,” said Serena Williams. “Last year was really scary for the world. To be able to do what I love and to come out and compete … I appreciate the moment even more.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.