Serena Williams cripples Tamira Paszek in the opening round – Australian Open 2012
American number one, Serena Williams, flashed past Austrian blooming star, Tamira Paszek in straight sets at the Australian Open 2012 on Tuesday. She jolted down a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the 21-year-old Austrian in a late night match at this major hard court tournament held in Melbourne, Australia.
Bidding the Australian Open for the fifth time, Williams displayed awe-inspiring skills to crush Paszek in their first meeting. She not only booked a spot in the round of 64 but also inched closer to regain her top rank at the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings.
American favourite, Williams, stepped at the Rod Laver Arena with conviction and easily plucked in her opening serve. She maintained her form and continued pocketing remaining serves after fending off both breakpoints she faced. The veteran then capitalised on one out of five break opportunities in the eighth game and clinched the opener with a 6-3 score line in three quarters of an hour.
The American formulated a lower first serve share of 55 percent as compared to the Austrian’s 69 percent but manifested an exceptional 12 out of 17 points on it. She spilled 15 unforced errors but hammered 20 winners to cover it up.
The former world number one carried her rhythm in the second set and held her opening serve in the second game to level the scores at 1-1. After Paszek held her serve in the third game, the American unveiled her true colours and wiped out next five games in a row, eventually sealing the set by winning six games to two.
The 30-year-old again committed several unforced errors but smacked 14 winners and seven ferocious aces to prevail. She produced a much better first serve share of 85 percent as compared to Paszek’s 58 percent and manifested spectacular 13 out of 17 points on it.
Up next for the 12th seed is the Czech star, Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who slew French challenger, Iryna Bremond, with a bagel to reach this spot.
Second seeded Czech, Petra Kvitova will join the world number 12, Williams, in the second round. Czech number one brushed off one out of two breakpoints she came across and converted six out of eleven break opportunities to her advantage, eventually sealing the deal with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against the Russian starlet, Vera Dushevina. Kvitova committed 20 unforced errors but fired 19 winners to earn this straight set victory. She also clobbered a better first serve share and registered an acceptable 9 out of 18 points on it.
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