Serena Williams advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Thursday, defeating 19-year-old Garbine Muguruza of Spain 6-2, 6-0.
The 31-year-old Williams did not appear to be in discomfort during the match after she injured her right ankle in the first round against Edina Gallovits-Hall on Tuesday. After a delay in that game to have her ankle taped, she defeated Gallovits-Hall 6-0, 6-0.
The match against Muguruza only took 75 minutes, but the crowd saw Williams was not plagued by any ankle issues. She won in 18 minutes to open the second set, which led to her fourth break chance.
Williams capped off the match with an ace at 128.7 mph as she lifted her hands in the air in amazement. That is the fastest ace that she can remember serving, but feels she can use this momentum to carry her through the rest of the tournament.
”Obviously when you go out to play you’re heavy on adrenaline and you’re really pumped up,” Williams said. ”Usually I feel injuries after the match but so far, so good. I felt pretty much better than I ever dreamed of expecting to feel.”
Williams did suffer another slight injury in Thursday’s match, busting her lip after the sixth game when she hit herself in the face with her racket. She had no explanation of how the incident occurred.
”I think it happens to everyone, but I have never busted it wide open like that,” she said. “So, yeah, I was like, ‘Oh, no. I can’t have a tooth fall out.’ That would be horrible.”
Williams will face Japan’s Ayumi Morita on Saturday, just as long as she can stay injury-free.
“She’s of course a great player and a great champion. I just want to try my best out there,” Morita said to The Australian. “I’ve never played her, so I’m just going on the court and hope I can play well and enjoy the match.”
Serena planned to join her sister Venus later on Thursday as they compete in the first round of doubles play. The two are looking to add their fifth doubles title from the Australian Open, which would accompany their gold medal in doubles play from the London Olympics.
