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By Chris Oddo | Monday August 13, 2018

 
Serena Williams

Serena Williams returned to the court for the first time since suffering a devastating loss at San Jose and produced a strong victory over Daria Gavrilova at Cincinnati.

Photo Source: Rob Carr/Getty

Serena Williams has hit the ground running at the 2018 Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. The 36-year-old American bounced back from the worst defeat of her career two weeks ago in San Jose to notch a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory over Daria Gavrilova on Monday night in Cincinnati.

The work is just beginning for Williams—she’ll face No.8-seeded Petra Kvitova in second-round action tomorrow night.

“You’ve got to be able to go back to back,” Williams said of the impending clash. "I don't get byes anymore right now. I'm okay with it.”


Williams improved to 3-0 against the Australian and 12-4 on the season.

She hit 8 aces and lost only 10 points on serve despite a 44 percent first-serve percentage.

“It's never easy, no matter what the scoreline says,” Williams said, adding: “Definitely felt relaxed after the first break.”

Williams owns a 5-1 lifetime edge over Kvitova but the pair have not met since the spring of 2015 in Madrid. A lot has changed since then, for both players. Kvitova underwent a traumatic experience in 2016 when a knife-wielding burglar attacked her and left the Czech with lacerations in her hand that needed surgical repair. Williams gave birth to her daughter Olympia child last September.

Since returning to the WTA Tour both players have become inspirational figures in the public and amongst their peers. Their seventh meeting promises to be a celebration as well as an important match for two players who are seeking much-needed momentum ahead of the U.S. Open.

Ostapenko Falls to Cornet, Azarenka Survives Suarez Navarro

No.11-seeded Jelena Ostapenko was stopped at the first hurdle by France’s AlizĂ© Cornet, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0,while No.13-seeded Madison Keys battled past Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4.

Wild card Victoria Azarenka got past Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4, and Great Britain’s Johanna Konta fell to Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Other first round winners on Monday were Ajla Tomljanovic (d. Begu), Viktoria Kuzmova (d. Sasnovich), Kristina Mladenovic (d. Goerges), Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Voegele), Anett Kontaveit (d. Strycova) and Rebecca Peterson (d. Siniakova).

 

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