The rust that Serena Williams showed in round one was gone when the twenty-one-time major champion took the court on Wednesday at the Australian Open. The defending champion easily defeated Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena Wednesday afternoon.
Williams Rides Return Through Opener
Serena Williams found herself under fire right from the get-go, falling behind 0-30 in her opening service game, eventually requiring a deuce to get through it. Williams immediately turned the tables on her opponent, breaking for the 2-0 lead. Hsieh tried hard to get the break back immediately, once again forcing a deuce, but she could not reach break point. Williams seemed to be finding her element as the set progressed, and she broke Hsieh to love for a 5-1 lead.
Hsieh desperately fought to keep the set alive while Williams tried to close it out. Hsieh managed to reach break point for the first time in the match. The world number one was up to the task, saving the break point with a backhand winner. Williams then forced Hsieh into an error before closing out the twenty-eight-minute opening set with another backhand winner.
Williams Continues to Cruise
The momentum from the opening set immediately rolled into the second set, as Williams quickly brought up a pair of break points in the opening game, winning the second when Hsieh missed a forehand. After a straightforward hold, Williams brought up another pair of break points, and this time was gifted the break when Hsieh double faulted at 30-40 to hand Williams a double break lead. Consolidating that second break would prove to be more troublesome, as it was Hsieh’s turn to grab a 15-40 lead after a Williams double fault. But converting those break points would prove to be much tougher than reaching them, as Williams saved the first break point with an ace, and overpowered Hsieh on the second. She soon held for a 4-0 lead.
Hsieh finally got on the board in the second set with a fairly straight forward hold for 4-1. Allowing her opponent a game hardly slowed Williams down, as she held to love and put the pressure on Hsieh to serve to stay in the match. Hsieh was up to the task on her on serve, but she was only delaying the inevitable as Williams would swiftly serve out the match the follow game for the victory in just over an hour.
By the Numbers
Williams pounded seven aces past Hsieh and saved all three break points that she faced in the match. She nearly tripled Hsieh in the winner department, hitting twenty-six to Hsieh’s nine. In total, she went four for eight on break point conversions. She also won an impressive sixty-percent of points on Hsieh’s first serve.
Williams will take on Daria Kasatkina in round three.