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Serena Williams 'overwhelmed' by crowd on winning return to Indian Wells | |
(2 months later) | |
Serena Williams made a winning return to Indian Wells after a 14-year boycott due to the racist abuse she suffered in the 2001 final. | |
On a sultry evening in front of a sell-out crowd, the American world No.1 got her bid for a third BNP Paribas Open title off to a victorious, though somewhat error-prone, start. | |
She overcame a nervous opening to battle past Romania’s Monica Niculescu 7-5, 7-5 in the second round. | |
Williams said she was overwhelmed by the reaction to coming back to the venue and that Niculescu’s style had taken some getting used to. | |
“I have never played anyone like her, and I was struggling to find my rhythm,” she said after being repeatedly thwarted by an unorthodox opponent who used a heavily sliced forehand. “It was a really tough match.” | |
Williams had skipped the showpiece event after winning her second title here in 2001, beating Kim Clijsters in a final marred by some spectators who heckled the American and her family. | |
The heckling was in apparent response to Serena’s sister Venus having withdrawn from their semi-final that year just minutes before the match. | |
“It feels overwhelming, walking out and having everyone here cheering me,” she said. “It’s been really worth it, coming back here.” | |
Williams, watched by her mother Oracene and sister Isha, was broken in the opening game and trailed 0-2 before gradually finding her range. | |
She won the next three games but was broken again in the seventh, then trailed 3-5 before clawing her way back with a mixture of power serving and blistering ground strokes, helped by several unforced errors by the Romanian. | |
Spurred on by shouts of “Come on Serena” and “Go Serena” from the crowd, the American won four games in a row to take a topsy-turvy opening set in an hour. | |
After trading early service breaks in the second, Williams sealed victory on her fourth match point when her opponent netted a backhand, ending an encounter that lasted just over two hours. | |
Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, the seventh seed and a losing finalist at Indian Wells last year, had a much easier time of it, storming into the third round with a 6-3, 6-1 demolition of American Alison Riske. |