Defending champion Serena says she is feeling on top of her game after a 'chat' with her service
Defending champion Serena says she is feeling on top of her game after a 'chat' with her service
It is 12 months since Serena beat her sister Venus in the fourth all-Williams Wimbledon final and little has changed to suggest a different name will be on the trophy this year.
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| Serena (left) and Venus Williams during their 6-4, 6-2 win in the women's doubles match against Julie Ditty and Renata Voracova yesterday. PIC/AFP |
Venus was barely troubled by Rossana De Los Rios in her opening match on Monday and Serena, who plays Anna Chakvetadze in the second round after the Russian's 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Andrea Petkovic, looks in the mood to win the singles' title here for a fourth time.
The world number one gained a 6-0, 6-4 first-round victory over Michelle Larcher De Brito, a 17-year-old from Portugal who was over-run at the start of the match but recovered to give the three-time champion a work-out in a competitive second set.
Serena won the first eight games of the match and attributed her fast start to an improved serve.
"I served so terrible in my last match at the French (Open) so I went home and worked really hard on it," Serena said.
"I was incredibly disappointed with it. I had a talk with my serve! I said, 'You know, we got to do a little bit better'."
Williams was all power and precision as she took just three minutes over an hour to see off the girl thought to have the loudest shriek in women's tennis.
"She's a good player," Williams said of Larcher De Brito. "I've played her before which was good so I knew what to expect.
"She doesn't look it but she definitely packs a punch. It was good for me because most people that do play nowadays hit really hard. It was good to get someone that hit really hard early on."
