A hyped-up and relieved Serena Williams said she felt like dancing on Monday after keeping her Australian Open defence on track with a testing three set win over China’s Li Na.
Responding to criticism of her fitness in the lead up to the tournament, Williams insisted she was full of energy after surviving a scare to grind down the fiesty Li 6-3, 6-7 (1/7), 6-2.
“I’m not tired, I just feel like putting my iPod in my ears and dancing,” she told reporters after the victory, nominating Destiny’s Child star Beyonce Knowles as her singer of choice.
“I’m surprised I have so much energy.”
However, the heavy breathing and sweat pouring off Williams’ body suggested she still has work to do to reclaim full fitness after her first competitive victory since beating Italy’s Francesca Schiavone in the third round of the US Open more than four months ago.
Injuries have sidelined her since.
She admitted there were aspects of her game she needed to work on if she is to successfully defend her title.
“Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of things I’m going to work on,” she said.
“Instead of going home to dance, I’m going to go home to write down things I need to work on. That way I can improve for the next round.”
For a period it looked like Williams might follow sister Venus as a first round casualty in the tournament she won last year and in 2003, with Li dominating the second set tie-break.
“I just lost it basically, I didn’t do what I needed to do and Li played some great shots and she started hitting winners on the back court and I don’t know what I did really,” Williams said.
“Everyone chokes, I choked today.”
Williams came back in the third set, saying her anger at putting herself in such a precarious situation focussed her game.
“I just decided to hit out,” she said, vowing to maintain the aggressive tactics through the tournament, where she next faces Camille Pin of France.
Williams, who has slipped to 15 in the world rankings and is 13th seed in Melbourne, said she was saddened by her sister’s shock exit from the tournament at the hands of little-known Bulgarian teenager Tszetana Prionkova.
“Thank God I didn’t watch it,” she said. “I was at home, and I can’t watch matches that she plays on TV, I get way too nervous.” – AFP