Serena Williams made a successful return to aggressive tennis on Tuesday as she rallied from a set all the way down to beat Bernarda Pera 4-6 6-Four 6-1 on the Prime Seed Open in Lexington, Kentucky on Tuesday in her first match of the Covid-19 period.
Williams was 5 factors from falling to the American left-hander within the second set however all of the sudden showcased her combating spirit and pulled away to arrange a second-round showdown with older sister Venus, a 6-Three 6-2 winner over Victoria Azarenka.
“It’s good simply normally as a result of I haven’t performed. A whole lot of gamers have been enjoying – little issues and little matches and enjoying towards different gamers – however I’ve solely been coaching so this was actually good for me,” mentioned Serena, who’s gearing up for the Aug. 31-Sept. 13 U.S. Open.
The Prime Seed Open, the primary WTA Tour match within the U.S. because the Covid-19 outbreak halted play, supplied a style of what’s to return for the 38-year-old American as she bids for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title in New York, with empty, silent stands taking the place of roaring crowds.
“I’ve been via so many issues in my profession so this was completely totally different,” mentioned Serena. “Being in New York might be somewhat totally different as a result of there’s this huge stadium.”
Venus, who fell within the first spherical on the Australian Open, Acapulco, and Monterrey earlier this yr, cruised via her conflict of former world quantity ones as she turned apart the one break level she confronted throughout an 80-minute win over Azarenka.
In different motion, former U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was upset by Canadian Leylah Fernandez, Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putinseva beat Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and Coco Gauff beat fellow American Caroline Dolehide.