Serena wins opening match of season

BRISBANE: Serena Williams did a quick little dance behind the baseline to remind herself to move her feet. After a complete air swing at the net in the second set, she smiled ruefully and drew in some long, deep breaths. She netted a service return on her first match point.

Top-ranked Williams´ first competitive match of the season, on New Year´s Eve, was by no means perfect, but the 6-4, 6-4 win over Andrea Petkovic at the Brisbane International was a decent start against a player who has been ranked as high as No. 9.

Williams made 36 unforced errors, including the big miss on Petkovic´s floater in the fifth game of the second set, but hit 35 winners and fired 11 aces including one at 196 kph (122 mph) to bring up set point in the first. "It was an intense match, which was really good," Williams said. "She´s been in the top 10 before and she was on her way to being even better. It was a good match for me."

Petkovic is on her way back up the rankings after missing most of 2012 with injuries and started this season at No. 39.

Williams started 2013 in Brisbane with a title, the first of 11 for a year that included two major championships.

She´s back with the aim of carrying the momentum into 2014. And she´s already into the quarterfinals where she´ll meet ninth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, who overcame 43-year-old Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

Williams had a win-loss record of 78-4 last season and spent all but seven weeks atop the rankings, and she hasn´t lowered her expectations for the year ahead. "I had a similar question in 2012. I had such a good year winning two slams and a (Olympic) gold and two doubles. It was a lot," she said. "I just didn´t think I could do better. Arguably I may have done better (in 2013), so I´m just going to be up for that challenge again."

In another second-round match, fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1, 6-3. (AP)