MELBOURNE, Australia - After a slowish start, Serena Williams brought out the big guns at the Australian Open on Tuesday night, winning 14 of the last 15 points to blaze past Austria's Tamira Paszek in the first round, 63 62.
Williams, who has won more Australian Opens than anyone else in the Open Era with five, looked somewhat erratic early on, as the No.45-ranked Paszek was able to draw numerous errors with some sharp retrieving and take charge of rallies with her big backhand - but from 1-2 in the second set Williams came alive, serving up a flurry of aces - including a perfect four ace service game at 3-2 - and quickly put an end to any thought of going to a third set.
"I think I was a wee bit tight out there tonight. I always get a little nervous in my first round matches," said Williams, who is now 46-0 in her career in Grand Slam first round matches. "Hopefully I can get better for my next match."
There were some question marks around Williams in regards to the ankle injury she had suffered in the lead-up tournament in Brisbane, but she maintained she is on the up. "Physically, I felt fine. I was definitely moving better than I suspected. I still think I can move better though, and just get that confidence. But we'll see how I feel tomorrow, if I'm sore, if I have any swelling. We'll see."
Williams was also asked about the four ace game. "I feel like I've done it in some European country maybe," the American replied. "I don't know, but it's a great feeling. It's cool. Especially to do it at a Grand Slam, it's something you can't forget. That was the only good moment I had in the match, I feel."
Having won 13 Grand Slams and been No.1, Williams has a lot of self-belief, perhaps more than one would expect from a No.12 seed - that came out as she was asked about the amount of bugs under the lights of center court. "Bugs fell on my back twice. I hate bugs more than you can imagine. They kept jumping on me! So I'm going to request not to play at night anymore because I hate bugs, except for the final. I heard it's at night. I'll try to get used to them."
Williams is now 31-0 against players outside the Top 20 at the Australian Open. Her worst loss came to a No.18-ranked Elena Likhovtseva in 2000.
Next up is a first-time meeting with No.49 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova.
Other winners later in the day included No.7 seed Vera Zvonareva, who fought more than three hours to get by Alexandra Dulgheru, 76(4) 67(5) 63; No.18 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who rebounded from losing the second set with a third set bagel against Chanelle Scheepers, 63 36 60; and No.21 seed Ana Ivanovic, who hit a bit of a wall against Lourdes DomÃnguez Lino early in the second set but managed to close the tenacious Spaniard out, 60 63.
"It got a little bit tough in the second set," Ivanovic said afterwards. "I stepped up when I needed to, came to the net a lot, and was really pleased to manage the break at 4-3 then hold my serve. I'm really happy to win today."
No.29 seed Nadia Petrova and No.30 seed Angelique Kerber also advanced.
Earlier in the day, Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova cruised, while Sam Stosur was ousted (read more about those matches here). Jelena Dokic also won and will next face Marion Bartoli (read about their wins here).
