Serena Williams wasn't quite in superhero form, but she still powered to a straight-set victory Tuesday in her first match back from a month-long knee-injury absence.
Wearing her self-described "Wonderwoman" outfit, Williams beat Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the third round of the Italian Open.
The top-seeded American looked a bit rusty after receiving a first-round bye.
PHOTO: AFP
Williams lost the first two games, won five in a row, then lost three straight to make it 5-5 in the first set. Williams also lost the first two games of the second set before taking control for good.
"It was a struggle today, I hit a lot of fly balls. I couldn't hit the ball in," she said. "But, hey, at least I got through it."
Williams had not played since pulling out of a tournament in Charleston, South Carolina last month, when her left knee flared up. She had surgery on the knee in August and returned to action in March by winning her first tournament back.
The 38th-ranked Sanchez Lorenzo hits with two hands on both her forehand and backhand and was able to dictate some of the points. On the important exchanges when Williams stepped up her play, however, the Barcelona native had no reply.
"I think I'm playing pretty well. I'm practicing very well," Williams said. "I just think that maybe I was off a little in the match."
The US$1.3 million Italian Open is a major clay-court tuneup for the French Open, which starts May 24.
Williams won here in 2002 and used the victory as a stepping stone for her "Serena Slam," a streak of four straight wins in majors that ended with the 2003 Australian Open.
Two years ago, Williams wore gold sneakers in her championship run here. On Tuesday, she was decked out in a white dress with a curious shiny, silver-colored band around her waist, and a head band with "Serena" written across the front in rhinestones.
"This is more or less Wonderwoman," Williams said of her outfit.
In Tuesday's only other second-round match, 17-year-old Maria Sharapova upset fellow Russian and sixth-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4. Sharapova, who won two titles in 2003, dominated the first set, then broke Dementieva's serve to close out the match.
Earlier, in a first-round encounter, Croatian teenager Karolina Sprem continued her good form with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. Sprem pushed Williams' sister Venus to three sets in the German Open semifinals on Saturday.
In other first-round matches Tuesday, 13th-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain cruised past Ukrainian Yuliana Fedak, 6-1, 6-1; 2000 French Open champion Mary Pierce of France beat Argentine qualifier Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-4; 16th-seeded Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi of Israel defeated Spain's Magui Serna 6-2, 6-4; and local favorite Maria Elena Camerin of Italy eliminated Jelena Dokic of Serbia-Montenegro, 7-5, 7-5.
Hamburg Masters
Top-ranked Roger Federer overcame cold conditions and a crafty opponent to escape with a three-set victory at the Hamburg Masters on Tuesday, while five seeded players lost in the first round.
Playing in long sleeves on a cool, wet and windy afternoon, Federer battled to a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Gaston Gaudio.
"As soon as I saw the draw, I knew it would be tough," Federer said. "In this heavy conditions you have to grind it out from the baseline, you can't rely on a big serve for a few cheap points."
Carlos Moya, coming off his victory at the Italian Open, overcame David Sanchez 7-5, 6-4. Moya, seeded seventh, saved a set point at 5-4 in the first set.
Federer, who has won two of the last three Grand Slams, cruised through the first set, but fell behind in the second, trailing 3-0 and 4-1. He rallied to pull even at 5-5, but dropped his serve to lose the set.
In the third, Federer broke serve for a decisive 5-4 lead and blasted an ace down the line on his first match point to keep alive his bid to win the Hamburg event for the second time since 2002.
Federer is off to a career-best 27-3 start to the year and has won three titles, including the Australian Open. But he lost in the second round at last week's Italian Open.
With many spectators wrapped in heavy blankets, Federer finished with 10 aces, while Gaudio had none. Federer had many more unforced errors, 40-29, but he also hit many more winners, 39-18.
"It must be one of the coldest places in the world," Federer joked. "To win a match like today makes me feel good and gives me confidence for the rest of the tournament. I hit the ball pretty well, but the conditions are tough, there are a lot of bad bounces."
In other action, fifth-seeded Tim Henman and No. 13 Fernando Gonzalez also advanced, but five seeded players were eliminated -- No. 4 Rainer Schuettler, No. 6 David Nalbandian, No. 9 Nicolas Massu, No. 12 Martin Verkerk and No. 14 Sjeng Schalken, who retired with a left hamstring injury.
Lleyton Hewitt saved a set point and beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-0, 7-6 (5) to reach the second round.
"I played well in the first set," said Hewitt, who breezed through it in 23 minutes. "I dictated play right from the start. I didn't feel I dropped my game in the second, he rather picked up his game," said the former No. 1 in the world.
Hewitt began the year by winning two of his first three tournaments but his best showing on clay so far this season is the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters.
"It may take me more time to adjust to clay but I feel I can match the best guys," said Hewitt, who was a semifinalist in Hamburg in 2001. He now has a 6-0 career lead over Bjorkman, who failed in his third attempt to win a match in Hamburg.
Lars Burgsmueller upset his higher ranked German compatriot and practice partner Schuettler 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in match that lasted three hours and seven minutes. He avenge a second-round loss here last year. Schuettler failed in another attempt to win a title at home.
Henman saved three set points before winning the opening set, then collapsed in the second. But he recovered to advance over qualifier Andreas Seppi 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.
Nalbandian, who was runner up at the Italian Open last week, lost quickly 6-2, 6-3 to David Ferrer.
Gonzalez beat Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (4) 6-4, Juergen Melzer upset Massu 6-3, 6-0, and Schalken retired with Oscar Hernandez leading 5-1. Hernandez only got into the main draw after the withdrawal of third-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero with a wrist injury.
Verkerk, who lost last year's final at Roland Garros to Ferrero, was upset by Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 7-6 (4), in a battle of two big servers.
The llion (US$2.9 million) clay-court event is the fifth of nine Masters Series tournaments, one tier below the Grand Slams. It is also a major tuneup for the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year that starts May 24 and where Ferrero is the defending champion.
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