Serena Williams recovered from a dismal start to ease her way past Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (2), 6-0, during an error-stricken second round match in Indian Wells.
The top seed is familiar with Putintseva’s game after defeating her in straight sets at the 2013 Madrid Open. The game of the player from Kazakhstan wasn’t the problem for the favourite during the first set. The problem was consistently in the Williams game.
The world No.1 made a sluggish start to the match against her 21-year-old opponent. An error-stricken opening service game from Williams handed Putintseva a break point chance before she battled back to clinch the game. The erratic shot-making from the American played into the hands of Kazak rival, ranked 55 places below her. Putintseva’s game plan was to force the top seed far behind the baseline to set her up for the winners. Usually play like this wouldn’t trouble Williams but she was far from her best. A world-class forehand deep into the corner of the court handed Putintseva the first break of the match to lead 2-1. Williams had a double chance to break back immediately but failed to convert. As the opening set progressed, Putintseva was faced with the daunting task of serving for the opening set at 5-4. She failed to do so after succumbing to the power of Williams, with the favourite firing a backhand cross court winner to level at 5-5, prompting a loud cheer from the Californian crowd.
After leveling, many expected Williams to regain control of the match. This expectation failed to come to life as she produced a dismal service game, consisting of four consecutive unforced errors, to hand Putintseva a second chance to serve for the set. The world No.56 was yet again unable to serve it out due to more powerful return shots from Williams, taking the set into a tiebreak.
The tiebreaker consisted of the usual Williams display, with her overpowering her opponent. The world No.1 broke her opponent twice with a blistering backhand down the line followed by a blistering return which painted the line a couple points later. The roller-coaster set was finally sealed when a serve out wide forced Putintseva to return the ball out. Despite sealing the set, Williams produced an outstanding 29 unforced errors compared to only 14 winners.
The encounter was a tale of two worlds with a blistering performance in the second set from Williams. Ensuring that she wouldn’t reproduced her poor start to the first set, Williams took the early initiative by returning a slow second serve from her opponent down the line to grab an early break. The surge in Williams performance continued as she appeared more confident with her footwork on the court. Another spectacular forehand return from the top seed gave her the double break to extend the lead to 3-0, against a growingly frustrated Putintseva. With the entire match momentum behind her, It was only a matter of time before the 21-time grand slam champion took the match. Serving for the match, Williams quickly raced to three set points before taking the match with an ace down the center of the court.
Taking the roller-coaster match after 75 minutes of play, Williams produced 27 winners compared to 33 unforced errors. Furthermore, she produced seven aces and successfully converted 5/7 break points.
“The first set was a little tricky. I kinda had to figure it out and figure out my game. I had to find my inner tiger”. A relieved world No.1 joked during her on-court interview.
The win sets Williams up with a fourth round clash with Ukrainian qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko. It will be the first meeting between the two players since 2009.
