American Serena Williams recorded her first victory of the year, six weeks after her unsuccessful return to Wimbledon, by defeating Granada-born Nuria Párrizas (#57) in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) in the first round of the WTA 1000 hard court tournament this Monday in Toronto.
The former world number 1, who was defeated by Harmony Tan of France on June 28 on the grass court in London, struggled with the Spaniard, but found the resources to win a difficult match in almost two hours (1h57′).
The win was her first since June 4, 2021 in the third round at Roland Garros 2021. Before Wimbledon, she did not appear again on the WTA Tour for a year.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion won the first set in style, not as fast as his best time, but serving as fast as his best time. Williams took the first set 6-3 after being broken in the eighth game before serving to win the set, which she closed out with authority.
Cheered on by the enthusiastic crowd, Williams unleashed some spectacular shots to save break point at 2-1 down, earning another round of applause from the crowd after an incredible exchange of punches that saw the two player involved.
The rest of the match was a tough battle, with neither player willing to give up their serve, even though the Spaniard had a slight advantage over his rival.
Whenever the latter seemed to weaken in the face of Parrizas’ excellent return, Serena found a decisive blow to ward off the danger, as in the endless eighth game of the second set. The former World No.1, now down to No.407 in the world, had to save several break points to finally convert his serve after nine deuces. This was the turning point of the match, as he broke again to win on his own serve, much to the delight of the Toronto crowd.
In the next round, she will face the winner of the Belinda Bencic – Tereza Matincova match.
Source: La Verdad
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