AO 2017 (R1): Serena started successfully the quest for her 23rd Grand Slam Title

The world nº2 had one of the toughest draws possible, as she met the talented Belinda Bencic in the first round. Coming into the first Grand Slam of the year, Serena´s form was very doubtful, after missing the end of 2016 and being surprisingly eliminated in the second round at Auckland. On Tuesday, she stepped on court with the mission to defeat an opponent that beat her in their last match. In the first set, Williams was the first to break the serve but Bencic responded promptly back to level the score at 4-4. From there, the former world nº1 won 7 games in a row to grab the first set and get close to only one game from the victory. "I think it was pretty good. I mean, she's a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well." 
Being a set and 5-0 down, the Swiss tried a comeback by winning the next 3 games and playing some kind of tennis that helped her to stun Williams back in 2015 at Rogers Cup. "I feel like she definitely has a lot more power. Obviously, she beat me in Canada the last time we played, but I really don't remember much about that match." 
In general, the American showed a too solid game to claim the win 6-4 6-3 and to start successfully the quest for her 23rd Grand Slam Title. "I just wasn't as aggressive as I was during those games. She started playing better. I made a few errors on some key points, but for the most part, I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out."