Williams Serves Up A Warning: I'm Ready

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday January 19, 2006

Jessica Halloran

SERENA Williams huffed, puffed and powered through to round three of the Australian Open yesterday, thumping France's Camille Pin 6-3, 6-1 in just 49 minutes. While Williams didn't have to do a lot running around in the heat, she proved her power game was in shape.

Pin was a pushover but Williams will face a biggest test in the next round when she faces the spindly yet athletic Daniela Hantuchova. The Open's 17th seed, Hantuchova has the wood on Williams with a 3-0 record.

"She's been playing really well lately," Williams said. "She's no pushover, so I definitely have to be ready for that ... everyone's a threat. But I'm real serious and I'm here to be a threat as well."

When she arrived at Melbourne Park, Williams's curvaceous figure had many questioning her fitness. Hantuchova's super-athletic game tomorrow will truly test how prepared the defending champion is.

Yesterday Pin threatened Williams briefly in the beginning. The American dropped her serve early in the first set but broke back to level the score 2-2. She then powered on to take the first set 6-3 and in the second demolished Pin 6-1.

Top seed Lindsay Davenport also won through to the third round yesterday. In 85 minutes Davenport disposed of Croatia's Karolina Sprem 7-6, 6-3.

Davenport said it was one of the pair's toughest encounters.

"I knew she had definitely the ability to play really well and be dangerous," Davenport said. "The more aggressive I could be, I felt like the match was in my favour."

Davenport, one of the bigger hitters in the game, also saw Martina Hingis in action in her first-round match on Tuesday and was impressed by the Swiss's 6-1, 6-2 victory on Tuesday over Vera Zvonareva.

She said Hingis's tactical game would not hinder her comeback campaign at the Open.

"She always found a way around it before," Davenport said. "More than anything, the girl finds a way to win and finds a way to get her opponent uncomfortable. I'm sure she has a way to negate power still."

Hingis is on course to play fifth seed Mary Pierce and Davernport said that would be the litmus test.

"We'll see if she gets through to play Mary [Pierce]," Davenport said. "That will be an interesting match and another great test for the other players and fans to see exactly where Martina is at."

Justine Henin-Hardenne advanced through to the third round after being briefly tested by little known Czech Hana Sromova 7-6, 6-1. Henin-Hardenne said women's tennis now had a great depth to it and the first week of the Australian Open was as tough as ever.

"We cannot say the first week is easy for the top seeds," she said. "You have to be focused on every match, all these players want to beat us and be in our place ... I think that changed from a couple of years ago".

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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