Serena Williams opened her campaign for a sixth title in Melbourne much later than she or her victim - oops opponent - Austria's Tamira Paszek would have preferred. For awhile it seemed that the late start had affected the players, who struggled to gain any consistent rhythm, especially Serena.
Looking the fittest she has been for any Aus Open that I can recall, Serena's tennis was failing to live up to the standard we know. For all the errors off the Williams racquet, and the effective backhand of the Austrian on show, Serena maintained pace with the player that made the Wimbledon quarters last year. How? She simply kept hitting winners.
Patience is not a virtue with which Serena is blessed, and sooner rather than later, merely matching her lesser opponent grated on the American's nerve. In the seventh game, Serena's decision to finally convert her stack of winners into a scoreboard advantage caused a massive sigh of relief in those who had picked the 13 time Grand Slam singles winner to make it 14 here.
The big serve, which is without peer in women's tennis, caused Tamira a heap of grief, and the ground strokes destroyed everything in their path. So no more games to the Austrian in set one and the younger Williams lavished the 6-3 match lead. All this without employing her very best game.
Tamira threatened to threaten early in the second set, but of course any threat from her was empty in Serena's mind. The finish to the match allowed those still at Melbourne Park to enjoy a sample of the delicacies that Serena Williams will deliver over the next 2 weeks. Plenty of aces - 4 in one game to make irrelevant Tamira's presence - and wonderful returning, interspersed with delightful passing shots, each tagged with the Serena signature brutality.
6-3 6-2 and an ideal beginning for a player whose career 12 months ago had past tense written all over it. Tamira has nothing to be ashamed of with her performance - on the other hand nothing to really boast about either.
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