TORONTO, Canada - Serena Williams made an emphatic return to the Rogers Cup Tuesday evening, playing an almost flawless first set then holding onto that momentum for a 60 63 first round win over Alona Bondarenko.
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Williams, who came back from a year-long lay-off in June and already won her first WTA title back at Stanford in July, lost just four points in the 16-minute opening set and, after Bondarenko managed to stay on serve through 3-all in the second set, won three quick games to close the former Top 20 player out.
"I definitely want to get better on a few things. I want to try to do more and play harder," Williams said. "I would hate to be Grand Slam ready right now, seeing that the US Open is not right now. So I will try to peak at the right time."
Williams is one of four returning champions in the draw, having won the title in 2001 (beating Jennifer Capriati in three sets in the final). She was also a runner-up in 2000 (retiring injured against Martina Hingis in the final).
The first round wrapped up on Day 2 after a rainy start, with the seeds going 2-1 - No.11 seed Andrea Petkovic and No.13 seed Agnieszka Radwanska both advanced with routine wins, while No.16 seed and former Rogers Cup finalist Dominika Cibulkova had to retire against Czech qualifier Iveta Benesova while leading 3-1 in the third set due to a left abdominal strain.
Petkovic is playing her first tournament as a Top 10 player - she rose to No.10 on Monday. "At the beginning of the year my goal was to be Top 20, and now it's August and I'm Top 10," the German said. "It was a strange feeling because they already told me the week before that I would get there, because Sam was going to lose some points. On the other hand, I didn't want to get in the Top 10 just because somebody handed it to me - so last week I felt I had to play well in Carlsbad, and after I reached the semis I felt better. I hope to continue."
Ana Ivanovic, Peng Shuai, Roberta Vinci, Daniela Hantuchova, Flavia Pennetta, Anabel Medina Garrigues, qualifiers Bojana Jovanovski and Petra Martic and Canadian wildcards Stéphanie Dubois and Aleksandra Wozniak also scored first round victories at the Premier-level tournament.
Wozniak, who went as high as No.21 in the world back in 2009 but is currently down at No.150 due to a series of injuries over the last few years, had perhaps the most surprising win of the day, routing No.23-ranked Shahar Peer in just 43 minutes, 61 60. Wozniak won 54 points in the match, Peer just 22.
"I was trying to dictate from the very first ball of each point," Wozniak said. "I don't think she was able to find her rhythm today. I tried to stay on her and have it under control. I was really trying to wait for the right ball and play aggressive."
Vinci rallied from 1-3 in the first set and 0-2 in the second set to beat Yanina Wickmayer in straight sets, 64 62, and will face No.1 seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki next. Read Vinci's WTA Blog here!
At night, No.2 seed Kim Clijsters was leading Chinese qualifier Zheng Jie, 63 12, when she had to retire from the match due to an abdominal injury.
"During my warm-up today I felt my left stomach muscle really, really tight," Clijsters said. "Before the match I got taped to try and protect the muscle as much as possible, but it just went worse and worse. I already had an ultrasound here on-site, and I have a partial tear in my left stomach muscle.
"I have a few weeks until the US Open. I'll do everything to be ready."
Clijsters is the two-time defending champion at the US Open. She has won it the last three times she has played it - 2005, 2009 and 2010.
