Despite looking like she was playing with just one leg during the majority of the match, #VenusWilliams battled through her first match at the #MiamiOpen although her movement was visibly hampered. The legendary American, despite her struggles with her movement, was playing some clean tennis and hit some spectacular winners to defeat qualifier #DalilaJakupovic with a tight 7-5, 6-3 scoreline after just an hour and 18 minutes of play.
It was a fun match despite Williams’ physical struggles as Jakupovic attempted to outhit Williams but the home favourite played a smart match by charging towards the net more often than usual to end off the points earlier. Jakupovic had to be the more aggressive player on the court, blasting 26 winners but also made an abundance of errors, and those 24 free points ultimately proved crucial.
Winning 64 percent of her first serves, the seven-time Major champion played a low-risk game and found just 16 winners although she only committed 14 errors. Williams broke serve on six different occasions and will next face Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round with a decent chance to produce another deep run if she were to be fully healthy.
Williams steals the tight first set
Jakupovic earned the break on three different occasions but every single time Williams managed to peg back and return level, ultimately closing out the opening frame with three consecutive games from 4-5 down.
It was a relatively weird start for the American, who was just letting her puff serves flow into the court at the speed of 75 mph but still managed to produce some clean winners at the net to claim the opening love service hold within a blink of an eye. A booming return winner helped Williams earn her first break point of the match, although Jakupovic saved it with a world-class dropshot winner and ultimately hold serve to get onto the scoreboard.
Three poor errors then saw Williams get broken for the first time, allowing Jakupovic to find the breakthrough. Some inconsistent play from both players saw three consecutive breaks come and go, with the Slovenian having the last laugh as she finally managed to consolidate for a 4-2 lead.
Neutralizing her lack of pace around the court with pace on her shots, Williams fought back to level the scores at 4-4 but proceeded to lose her serve from 30-0 up after committing yet another slew of unforced errors. Serving for the set, Jakupovic could not hold her nerves and fell short to a physically hampered Williams, who seemed unwilling to run an extra mile for several shots.
Rattling off 12 of the final 15 points in the first set, Williams found a new life in her game and claimed three straight games to snatch the first set 7-5 despite looking under the weather and with her opponent succumbing to the nerves and pressure when she saw the finishing line.
Williams grabs the confidence-boosting win
After narrowly losing out on the tight opening set, Jakupovic completely lost the plot as her backhands and dropshots abandoned her. Williams started to gain confidence and move more fluidly around the court, dominating the net and overpowering the world number 80 at the baseline.
Within just moments of play, Williams found herself surging towards a commanding 3-0 lead as the win looked all but sealed within her fist pumps. Jakupovic desperately stopped the rout of losing six consecutive games, saving two break points in a tight service game as she produced a terrific forehand down-the-line winner to remain in contention.
Although the Slovenian managed to reduce the deficit, Williams remained unfazed and looked determined to close out the win in straight sets. She failed to serve out the match on her first attempt, with Jakupovic giving it her all until the very last point but it was just delaying the inevitable as Williams eventually sealed the win on her fourth match point with a forehand error from Jakupovic.
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