Serena Williams qualified for the second round of the WTA 1000 Canadian Open in Toronto after winning the start over the Spaniard Nuria Parrizas-Diaz with 2-0 (6:3, 6:4). The three-time winner played just her second singles match since returning to the court at Wimbledon in June following a long injury layoff and recorded her first win in 15 months.
In severe weather conditions – hot weather combined with high humidity, the 40-year-old Serena Williams managed to prevail after a two-hour match.
In the second round, Serena Williams, who has 23 Grand Slam titles, will face the winner of the match between Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and Czech tennis player Tereza Martincova.
“It’s been quite a long time. I had almost forgotten what it felt like”, said Serena Williams. “I feel good and it was like that in today’s match as well. I just had to go out and play. Mentally, I think I’m in better shape. Every match I play, whether I win or lose, helps me. I didn’t play much last year, even the last two years. I think it helped me physically. I feel a lot better in training, I just need to apply it on the court. I really enjoyed playing today. Sometimes you just want to try your best because you know you’re not going to do this forever and you want to enjoy those moments”, added she.
The former number 1 Simona Halep also continues to the second round. The Romanian easily prevailed over the Croatian Donna Vekic with 2-0 (6:0, 6:2) in an hour of play. In the next round, she will face the winner between the Chinese player Shuai Zhang and the Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan also had a successful start, defeating the Czech Marie Bouzkova with 2-1 (7:5, 6:7, 6:1). Elena Rybakina awaits in the second round the winner of the clash between the 10th-seeded Cori “Coco” Gauff and Madison Brengle.
