Venus Williams still nursing a sore back from the recent Cincinnati tournament, nevertheless dispatched 212-ranked Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6–3, 6–1 in first-round play.
Williams hit five aces and won 83 percent of her first-serve points. Add to that her 22 winners to only 13 errors, and her 100 percent success at the net (six of six) and the 32-year-old Williams had too much firepower for her 27-year-old opponent. Mattek-Sands compounded the difficulty by hitting 15 errors and only six winners.
“I was really happy with my serves today. Especially with all this wind to be able to put a lot of first serves in and have some easy games on my serve I think helped a lot,” Williams told ESPN. “We’ve played a number of times in singles and doubles and its always a tough match so I’m glad it was straightforward today.”
Next Williams faces Angelique Kerber, who knocked Williams out of the Olympics. To beat her Williams said she would have to “put a lot of balls in the court and just execute my game well. I’m looking forward to it.”
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