• No 25 seed sees off Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3
• My serve is playing catch-up, says seven-times champion
The last time Serena Williams played at Wimbledon, two years ago, she was single, in her later-pomp and had to cope with a breeze that gusted around Centre Court – as well as the determined challenge of Angelique Kerber – as the American equalled Steffi Graf’s haul of seven titles.
On her return on Monday – in the first round on No 1 Court this time – the wind was still blowing, but so was Williams, forever a champion but a mother now and struggling to beat the world No 105 Arantxa Rus, a tall Dutch left-hander who resembles Maria Sharapova in appearance and even in dogged fighting spirit, although she is not quite there on the key points. Nevertheless, Rus caused Williams enough problems before the finest player of her era ground out a 7-5, 6-3 win in an hour and a half that might have seemed a good deal longer to the 36-year-old winner if not the 27-year-old loser.
Written by Kevin Mitchell Wimbledon
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/02/serena-williams-makes-wimbledon-second-round under the title “Serena Williams shakes off the rust and makes Wimbledon’s second round”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
