Serena served first and after a rusty initial forehand, soon flowed into a rhythm which had her young opponent worried. A comfortable hold based on Russian errors.
A forehand winner was a positive start to the Potapova service game, and an ace to follow had her up and going. But Williams snuck in a drop shot winner and a double fault produced a break point. A brutal forehand return winner secured the break and a 2-0 lead.
The break was consolidated, although Williams had to recover from 0-30 to do so. The famous forehand was the weapon of choice and it continued to fire into the fourth game with an immediate winner. Followed by an impressive backhand. Two break points arrived, and one was saved. A double fault on the second break point donated a 4-0 advantage to Williams.
An ace, her first, sealed a love game for Williams to lead 5-0. After hitting a superb winner to lead 30-15, Potapova had to surrender to some more Williams brilliance, the American finishing with a wicked backhand return winner to take the set 6-0.
Set two began on a far more equal footing, the first four games split evenly between the pair. Potapova actually broke the Williams serve to lead 2-1, before the eighth seed returned the favour. Potapova had a break opportunity in the fifth game, but it evaporated when her backhand flew wide.
At 3–4, Serena Williams changed up a gear, and forced a second break for the set. She moved to 5-3 with serve to come.
In a flash, two match points appeared. An ace was sufficient and Williams won 6-0 6-3.
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