The Williams tried their best, but the Chinese wall stood firm. Now, the sisters can meet only across the net from each other at the Bangalore Open, as Shuai Peng and Tian Tian Sun ended the sisters’ doubles dreams after coming through a super tie-break in the second round, winning 5-7, 6-2, 11-9.
Serena had to be satisfied with just one victory for the day. Her singles match earlier today was a tale of two sets. And a different Serena turned up for each of them. But all’s well that ends well, and the Bangalore Open still has its third seed intact. A Wavering Williams turned into Serena the Steamroller by the end of this first round match, and Israel’s Tzipora Obziler could find no remedy as she tried to come to terms with the 7-5, 6-0 Jekyll and Hyde twist in the tale.
“I was just happy to be here after what I went through in the past two-three weeks. In the second set, I stopped making errors, and the ball was not flying as much as it was in the first. I couldn’t get into a rhythm. There were a lot of bad line calls too, I had some issues with those,” said Serena.
The Israeli may have fancied her chances just a little bit prior to her encounter with the eight-time Grand Slam singles champion, perhaps counting on Serena’s absence from the game since the Australian Open to spill a little luck her way. She was granted her wish as Serena opened with a double fault and a break of serve, but Obziler failed to keep up her end of the bargain.
Neither player could hold serve till the fifth game, and Serena did not look like a former world No 1. There were occasional glimpses of the backhand that once silenced so many in Grand Slam finals, and a few of those, though, did happen to come at the right time. Like the return she hit at 0-40, 6-5 on Obziler’s serve. It won her the first set, and some breathing room.
The second set could not have been more different. The inconsistencies of the first were a distant memory, and it appeared as though Serena wanted to make up for lost time. She was powering through, with an occasional fist-pump and a ‘come on!’, and Obziler must have guessed time was short. Two backhands ended this match — a screaming winner from the American’s racket, and a tired error from Obziler.
Next up for the younger Williams is Russia’s Anastasia Rodionova, who shocked sixth seed Sybille Bammer of Austria 7-6, 6-2. Fourth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland just about made it, coming back from behind to defeat Japan’s Aiko Nakamura 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.