While others typically stutter through their opening rounds in Dubai as they get used to the heat and speed of the surface, leave it to Venus Williams to step on centre court and blast into the third round in a mere 69 minutes.
The 34-year-old American, who had a bye in round one, was facing Belinda Bencic last night, a Swiss teenager half her age, and
It was vintage Venus who showed up for that second round, as she fired 185+km/hr serves, crushed her forehand to skip past
Bencic 6-1, 6-2 and take her winning streak in Dubai to 16.
Venus has not lost a match here in 10 years, and despite the hectic travel schedule she has gone through recently, hitting four continents in three weeks, the world No11 felt at home on a court that has given her three trophies so far.
Bencic had her mentor, Martina Hingis court-side for the match, but there was little either Swiss could do to halt Venus, who broke her opponent five times and dropped just four points on her first serve.
While the way she was hitting the ball so cleanly was reminiscent of the Venus of years past, the American feels she’s actually playing better now than during her glory days.
“I think my strategy is a lot better than even five or six years ago, and I think I have added another shot to my game in the last few months with my backhand slice,” the seven-time major champion said.
“At 34, I’m hitting a little bit harder than most people and playing some offence on the run.
“When I was 17, though, also, I didn't think about what the age was of someone across the net. All you think of is I want to beat them and that kind of thing. A number doesn't ever come in the head.”
Earlier in the day, Garbine Muguruza took her time before she adapted to the conditions and outlasted Australian qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on her debut in Dubai.
“It was really hard for me. I was nervous. I knew that Jarmila was playing well, she passed the qualies here, so she had more rhythm and I kind of felt tired,” said the Spaniard, ranked No24 in the world.
“I played last week in really cold weather so I felt the sun and the heat… everything. But I’m just really happy that I won finally. In the first set I thought ‘there’s no way I’m winning this’.”
In the second round today, Muguruza will take on a Dubai veteran in the form of Jelena Jankovic, who has a UAE residency and has taken part in the tournament on nine previous occasions, making the semis or better five times.
Jankovic is 1-1 head-to-head against Muguruza.
“I know that this surface is complicated for all of us. I’m motivated to play against her and try to win and have another good match,” said Muguruza of her upcoming clash against the ex-world No1.
British No1 Heather Watson suffered a bizarre pain in both her feet during her 6-4, 7-5 defeat to world No132 Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine.
Watson, who fell ill and had a fever the previous day, is unsure of the cause of the pain in her feet but says she is still planning on playing doubles with Marina Erakovic on Tuesday.
