Serena a Straight-Sets Winner in 2014 Opener

December 31, 2013 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

After a first-round bye, the top-seeded and world number one Serena Williams was victorious in her first match of the 2014 season, defeating Andrea Petkovic in straight sets at the Brisbane International, 6-4, 6-4. Serena dropped serve once early on, but unleashed 11 aces en route to her straight sets win. Next up for Serena is the number nine seed, Dominika Cibulkova, a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 winner over Kimiko Date-Krumm.

"It was an intense match, which was really good," Serena said. "She [Petkovic] is a good player. She's been in the Top 10 before and she was on her way to being even better. So it was a really good match for me. I usually have a lot of nerves, but when I realized who I was playing I felt like it was a really good opportunity for me to have a tough match early on. That kind of made me more calm than anything."

About her third round opponent, Serena has defeated Cibulkova in all three of their previous meetings, but barely won their only previous hardcourt meeting as Cibulkova led 6-2, 4-1 before Serena came back for the 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.

Serena had a win-loss record of 78-4 in 2013 and spent all but seven weeks atop the rankings. Serena started 2013 in Brisbane with a title, the first of 11 that included two major championships.


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
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