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Brisbane - Serena Williams's first competitive match of the season, on New Year's Eve, was by no means perfect, but a 6-4, 6-4 win over Andrea Petkovic at the Brisbane International was a decent start against a player with a career-high ranking of No 9.
Top-ranked Williams was understandably below her best after the off-season. She did a quick little dance behind the baseline in the first set to remind herself to move her feet, and after a complete air swing at the net in the second set, she smiled ruefully and drew in some long, deep breaths.
She also netted a service return on her first match point, but still did enough to progress.
Top-ranked Williams started 2013 in Brisbane with a title, the first of 11 for the year that included two major championships. She's back with the aim of carrying the momentum into 2014 and already into the quarter-finals.
Results of matches at the Brisbane International tennis tournament on Tuesday (X denotes seed):
Men
First Round:
Jeremy Chardy (FRA X8) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 7-6 (7/4), 7-5
Feliciano Lopez (ESP X6) bt Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 6-4, 6-4
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) bt Igor Sijsling (NED) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Matthew Ebden (AUS) bt Alex Kuznetsov (USA) 6-3, 6-4
Women
Second Round:
Serena Williams (USA X1) bt Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-4, 6-4
Jelena Jankovic (SRB X4) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR) 6-1, 6-3
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK X9) bt Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
