Serena Williams overcame a mid-match slump to beat Rebecca Peterson 6-3 1-6 6-1 and book her place in the third round of the Miami Open.
The American, 37, appeared to be cruising to victory when she comfortably won the first set 6-3 in just 34 minutes. She won 19 of 26 points on her serve and converted two of three break points.
However, Serena’s serve went to pieces in the second set. She lost over half the points played behind it and was broken twice as she lost the set 6-1.
It was such an uncharacteristic dip from the 23-time Grand Slam champion. And, taking that into account, it came as no surprise to see the American roar ‘Come On!’ in her trademark manner when she held serve at the beginning of the decider.
Serena never looked back after that. She resumed the dominance she had enjoyed in the first set and broke Peterson twice to achieve an emphatic 6-1 scoreline.
“(After the second set I told myself) I could not lose this match,” the American said in her press conference. “I knew that I could play a lot, lot, lot better. At this point it was irresponsible to be playing the way I was, so the determination to not lose really kicked in.”
Serena will now face Wang Qiang in the third round after the Japanese player extraordinarily won 10 games in a row from 4-2 down in the first set to beat Johanna Konta 6-4 6-0.
Kerber fights back
The American was not the only high-profile player who struggled today. Angelique Kerber lost the first 6-3 to Karolina Muchova before eventually recovering to win 3-6 6-3 6-3.
The German, who reached the final of Indian Wells, dropped her serve three times in a row at the end of the opening set during a significant slump.
However, she served much better in the second set and then remained solid in the third to secure victory.
Ostapenko loses again
Jelena Ostapenko has really floundered in recent months. She lost 7-5 6-1 to rising star Marketa Vondrousova and will have to go back to the drawing board if she is to be successful in the upcoming clay court season.
Elsewhere in Miami, Viktoria Kuzmova overcame 31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7(5) 6-4 7-5 and Tatjana Maria earned a 6-3 6-4 victory over Camila Giorgi.
