Serena Williams did kick start her 2020 tennis season on the right foot. The 38-year-old cruised past Camila Giorgi with a 6-3, 6-2 solid win. The 23 Grand Slam titles winner was making a return to tennis singles competitions after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Bianca Andreescu during the 2019 season. Despite her absence from this sport, she did not appear rusty at all during her encounter with the Italian.
However, it was not an easy match for Serena Williams. In fact, in the initial stages of the encounter, she had to put up with the high firing Camila Giorgi. Fortunately for Serena Williams, her experience made the whole difference. She managed to match Camila’s intense pace. She then capitalized on her extraordinary serving capability to overcome the Italian tennis player. She served close to 75-percent of the first serves in the entire match hence managing up to eight aces.
Patrick Mouratoglou on Serena’s Win
After her first singles match win in 2020, Serena could not hide her joy. In her post-match interview, this is what she said, “I thought it was solid, technically my second match of the year. Spent a long time off from tournament play, match play, so solid is pretty good. It’s a great start to build on.”
According to her, participating in the doubles match before her singles match contributed immensely to her win. “I definitely think the doubles helped me a lot, especially with my serve. I served pretty decent, considering the conditions. So, it’s really been helpful,” she added.
Serena Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, was also quick to congratulate her after getting that vital win. She took to Twitter and wrote, “That was a very solid first round @serenawilliams.” Serena Williams will now face off with Christina McHale in the next round.
A possible encounter between Serena Williams and Coco Gauff in the Offing?
So far, so good for both Coco Gauff and Serena Williams. Both won their opening tennis matches in Auckland. The 15-year-old defeated Viktoria Kuzmova with a 6-3, 6-1 win. Besides, she managed to rack close to 60-percent points. Coco Gauff will play the German Laura Siegemund in her next match, whereas Serena Williams will face off with American Christina McHale. Wins for both Serena Williams and Coco Gauff means they will play against each other in the quarter-finals of the Auckland Open.
Serena Williams in Auckland, ranking, and results in 2020
Now the world no.10, the American has a 2-0 win-loss record in 2020. Serena Williams is currently playing in Auckland where she bested Camila Giorgi 6-3 6-2 and Christina Mchale 3-6 6-2 6-3.
Serena Williams will come up against Siegemund in the quarter. The head to head is 1-0 for Serena Williams.
The last time that they competed against each other, Serena Williams won 6-2 6-1 in the 2nd round in Indian Wells (BNP Paribas Open) in March 2016.
Serena Williams won 72 titles in her career: 42 on hard courts, 13 on clay courts, 7 on indoor courts, 2 on carpet courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of her titles)
