World number one Serena Williams continued her winning streak this season with her 32nd consecutive victory on Tuesday during her first round match at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. The American overpowered Mandy Minella of Luxembourg 6-1, 6-3. Williams is the defending champion at this grasscourt Slam event.
“It felt good,” Williams said after her match.
“I love playing here. Being the defending champion is always special, knowing for 12 months you’re going to play at 1 o’clock on Tuesday. It definitely felt good to step out there and be on the court and hit some balls around.
“I feel like I was a little rusty for some reason today. I don’t feel like I played my best tennis. I felt really upset when I lost my serve at the beginning in the second set – with that being said, I think Mandy played really well. I thought she was really mixing up her shots, mixing up her game. It wasn’t an easy match for me. To be honest, I’m a little excited I was able to play a tough match and get through it.
“There’s so many ways I can improve and that I’ll need to improve if I want to be in the second week.”
Williams is a heavy favorite to win the title but knowing that another heavy favorite on the men’s side, Rafael Nadal, was ousted during his first round match, it only shows that nothing’s really for sure.
“Well, I’m a huge Nadal fan, as we all know,” Williams said. “I’m probably his biggest fan. Obviously I was really sad about yesterday. But in a way I was happy, too, because I felt like he’ll have time to rest up and get ready for the hardcourt season. But it’s tough out there. I played a lot of matches on clay this year, more than I’ve played ever, I think, and I had a little tough time adjusting today. So for him it must have been a lot more difficult because he didn’t play any hardcourt, he only played on clay.
“But it’s not the end of the world, and he’ll come back.”
Williams has now equalled the 32-match streak achieved by former top-ranked Justine Henin during the 2007-2008 season.
