Serena Williams is looking forward to getting her clay court game going at this week’s Italian Open.
The American says she is feeling fit after a series of injury-related withdrawals since winning the Australian Open in January.
”I’m feeling pretty good and I’ve been working on my clay court game,” Williams said on Monday.
”I like sliding, staying back, it suits me. I’m excited to be here. I like the pasta, the pizza.”
Williams is using this $1,3-million tournament as a tune-up for the French Open, which starts in two weeks. She does not plan to play again before Paris.
”This is a good one for me. Then I’ll get ready to play Paris,” said Williams, who used her 2002 Rome title as a springboard for her only French Open championship the same year.
On the court on Monday, Italy’s Maria Elena Camerin upset 10th-seeded Nathalie Dechy of France 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, ninth-seeded Elena Bovina beat Mashona Washington of the United States 6-2, 6-2 and Italy’s Francesca Schiavone eliminated Meghann Shaughnessy 7-5, 6-0.
Williams, who had a bye in the first round and will next face Schiavone, has had a tough time since her Australian title.
She was forced to withdraw from the Paris Indoors in February with a stomach illness before her quarterfinal match.
In March, she retired from her semifinal match with Jelena Jankovic due to a shoulder injury. Then in Miami, she lost to sister Venus Williams for the first time in four years, snapping a six-match winning streak against her sibling.
Last month, Serena Williams suffered a left ankle sprain during her quarterfinal match with Silvia Farina Elia and retired after failing to convert three match points in a second-set tiebreak.
”That was a worst-case scenario, twisting my ankle on match point,” Serena Williams said on Monday.
Venus Williams is also in Rome, although she is not playing the Italian Open. She plans to play in Istanbul, Turkey, next week.
Serena Williams is currently ranked fourth but has no doubt that when she’s on her game she’s still the best.
”I definitely think so — if I’ve trained hard enough and practiced enough — I think it’s very difficult for anyone on the women’s tour to compete with me,” she said.
Teenager Maria Sharapova has the top seed in Rome and can take over the top ranking from Lindsay Davenport if she wins the tournament.
Davenport is not playing in Rome, nor are several other top players, including Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Clijsters strained ligaments in her right knee in Berlin last week and Henin-Hardenne is taking the week off after capturing the German Open title on Sunday.
France’s Amelie Mauresmo, the defending Rome champion, is seeded second, with Serena Williams third.
Four Russians follow on the seeding list: Elena Dementieva, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova. Berlin semifinalist Patty Schnyder is the eighth seed.
The top eight seeds have first-round byes. – Sapa-AP