Serena moves on, expects dominance

Serena Williams of the US celebrates defeating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands during the Women's Singles first round match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday July 2, 2018.
Serena Williams of the US celebrates defeating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands during the Women's Singles first round match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Monday July 2, 2018.

LONDON -- Now that she's "Mrs. Williams," per the Wimbledon chair umpire, now that she's a mother, now that she is back on tour, Serena Williams is ready to rediscover her full complement of shots and ability to dominate.

"Not only do I expect to win," she said Monday after picking up a victory in her first match at the All England Club in two years, "I expect to win emphatically."

Wimbledon results

LONDON — Results Monday from Wimbledon at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (seedings in parentheses):

Men’s Singles

First Round

Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, def. Dusan Lajovic, Serbia, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

Lukas Lacko, Slovakia, def. Benjamin Bonzi, France, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Ivo Karlovic, Croatia, def. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 6-3.

Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, def. Leonardo Mayer (32), Argentina, 3-6, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Adrian Mannarino (22), France, def. Christian Garin, Chile, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Ryan Harrison, United States, def. Roberto Carballes Baena, Spain, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, def. Gastao Elias, Portugal, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

Daniil Medvedev, Russia, def. Borna Coric (16), Croatia, 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-2.

Sam Querrey (11), United States, def. Jordan Thompson, Australia, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, def. Joao Sousa, Portugal, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.

Paolo Lorenzi, Italy, def. Laslo Djere, Serbia, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4.

Gael Monfils, France, def. Richard Gasquet (23), France, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-4.

Philipp Kohlschreiber (25), Germany, def. Evgeny Donskoy, Russia, 6-2, 6-4, 7-5.

Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, def. Michael Mmoh, United States, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-1.

Andreas Seppi, Italy, def. John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.

Kevin Anderson (8), South Africa, def. Norbert Gombos, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Marin Cilic (3), Croatia, def. Yoshihito Nishioka, Japan, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Guido Pella, Argentina, def. Jason Kubler, Australia, 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3).

Mackenzie Mcdonald, United States, def. Richard Berankis, Lithuania, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Nicolas Jarry, Chile, def. Filip Krajinovic (28), Serbia, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Lucas Pouille (17), France, def. Denis Kudla, United States, 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Dennis Novak, Austria, def. Peter Polansky, Canada, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (7).

John Millman, Australia, def. Stefano Travaglia, Italy, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

Milos Raonic (13), Canada, def. Liam Broady, Britain, 7-5, 6-0, 6-1.

John Isner (9), United States, def. Yannick Maden, Germany, 6-2, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, def. Steve Johnson, United States, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 (0), 8-6.

Aljaz Bedene, Slovenia, def. Cameron Norrie, Britain, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (31), Greece, def. Gregoire Barrere, France, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 7-5.

Jared Donaldson, United States, def. Malek Jaziri, Tunisia, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1.

Thomas Fabbiano, Italy, def. Yuki Bhambri, India, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.

Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland, def. Grigor Dimitrov (6), Bulgaria, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Women’s Singles

First Round

Karolina Pliskova (7), Czech Republic, def. Harriet Dart, Britain, 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-1.

Victoria Azarenka, Belarus, def. Ekaterina Alexandrova, Russia, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Katie Swan, Britain, def. Irina Begu, Romania, 6-2, 6-2.

Kiki Bertens (20), Netherlands, def. Barbora Stefkova, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-2.

Anna Blinkova, Russia, def. Yafan Wang, China, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4.

Alexandra Dulgheru, Romania, def. Kristyna Pliskova, Czech Republic, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Venus Williams (9), United States, def. Johanna Larsson, Sweden, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1.

Julia Goerges (13), Germany, def. Monica Puig, Puerto Rico, 6-4, 7-6 (7).

Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine, def. Timea Babos, Hungary, 7-5, 6-2.

Barbora Strycova (23), Czech Republic, def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 7-6 (6), 7-5.

Andrea Petkovic, Germany, def. Shuai Zhang (31), China, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium, def. Mona Barthel, Germany, 7-5, 6-4.

Rebecca Peterson, Sweden, def. Viktoria Kuzmova, Slovakia, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (9).

Donna Vekic, Croatia, def. Sloane Stephens (4), United States, 6-1, 6-3.

Tatjana Maria, Germany, def. Elina Svitolina (5), Ukraine, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-1.

Kristina Mladenovic, France, def. Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova, Slovakia, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgaria, def. Tereza Smitkova, Czech Republic, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Serena Williams (25), United States, def. Arantxa Rus, Netherlands, 7-5, 6-3.

Sorana Cirstea, Romania, def. Magdalena Rybarikova (19), Slovakia, 7-5, 6-3.

Evgeniya Rodina, Russia, def. Antonia Lottner, Germany, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Luksika Kumkhum, Thailand, def. Bernarda Pera, United States, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Madison Keys (10), United States, def. Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia, 6-4, 6-2.

Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def. Coco Vandeweghe (16), United States, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 8-6.

Ons Jabeur, Tunisia, def. Viktorija Golubic, Switzerland, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Madison Brengle, United States, def. Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Camila Giorgi, Italy, def. Anastasija Sevastova (21), Latvia, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

Agnieszka Radwanska (32), Poland, def. Elena Gabriela Ruse, Romania, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, def. Katerina Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-4, 6-4.

Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, def. Petra Martic, Croatia, 7-6 (0), 2-6, 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki (2), Denmark, def. Varvara Lepchenko, United States, 6-0, 6-3.

Williams found herself in a bit of a jam against 105th-ranked Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, down by a break in the second set on a windy afternoon. A five-game run and 25 minutes later, Williams had completed the 7-5, 6-3 result.

"I have such high expectations of myself," said Williams, whose 23 Grand Slam singles championships include seven at Wimbledon, so she was seeded 25th even though her ranking is 181st after an extended absence. "I don't go out there expecting to 'do well' or 'see what happens.' That's just not me."

Day 1 at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament featured some mild surprises, such as U.S. Open champion and French Open runner-up Sloane Stephens' third first-round exit in the past five majors, and losses by No. 5 Elina Svitolina and No. 6 Grigor Dimitrov (to three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka).

Also drawing attention was eight-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer's new clothing sponsorship, during his easy-as-can-be victory at Centre Court.

Williams has won 15 matches in a row at Wimbledon, a streak that encompasses titles in 2015 and 2016, although Williams said that hadn't occurred to her until a reporter mentioned it. The 36-year-old American sat out the tournament last year while pregnant; she gave birth to a daughter in September and married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian in November (hence the change from "Miss Williams" over the arena microphone).

This is only Williams' second major tournament in nearly 1½ years. She returned at the French Open in May and won three matches there before withdrawing with an injured pectoral muscle. She went a few weeks without even attempting to serve, while healing, and insisted she wasn't entirely sure how she'd fare with that stroke Monday.

Rus rolled her eyes at that notion after the match, saying: "I mean, she doesn't start a tournament if she's not prepared."

Maybe so, but Williams double-faulted on the initial point, and dropped in some offerings in the low 80s mph, rather slow for her.

Then she revved it up, getting to 115 mph in each set.

"Serving good," Rus observed. "Hard."

Still, Williams had her issues. She lost her footing and tumbled at one point. She got upset by a line judge's mistaken call that led to the replay of a point she should have won but instead lost. She was down love-30 on her serve and trailing 3-1 in the second set after a run of 7 of 8 points for Rus.

"Almost," Rus lamented later, "like a double-break."

Williams came back to hold there and wouldn't drop another game the rest of the way, dealing better with the wind that whipped this way and that at No. 1 Court and marking terrific passing shots with those customary cries of "Come on!"

Her sister, five-time Wimbledon champion and 2017 finalist Venus, had far more trouble across the grounds at No. 2 Court, slipping to the turf a couple of times and barely moving on with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1 win against Johanna Larsson of Sweden, who dropped to 0-8 at the All England Club.

The Williams siblings aren't playing doubles in this tournament, the way they did at Roland Garros, and that's a good thing for Mom: It gives her more time with her child.

"I felt guilty," Williams said about her time in Paris. "I was like, 'I haven't seen Olympia.' Like, 'What am I doing?' ... Now that I'm not playing doubles in this event, I have the day off, I think that will help."

It might take time to figure out how to balance her job with her career, just like for many parents.

"I'm adjusting well. I spend so much time with her every single day. We, like, literally do everything. I really don't like being away from her," Williams said. "I also think it's healthy, in a way, for me to do what I need to do, be that working mom, then go back home and be the mom."

Sports on 07/03/2018

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