Tour Return Pleases Serena Greatly

Serena Williams hadn’t played a match on tour since the French Open, and quite frankly, the long layoff was getting unsettling, especially when she fell out of the top 10.

Now, dropping to No. 11 is hardly a free fall. But that didn’t mean she had to accept it.

“I was a little restless,” she said. “I missed being out there and competing. Plus, people were actually passing me in the rankings. Imagine if I played 20 tournaments where I would be. If I would play 20, I’d take the top spot.”

Williams shook the rust off at the Acura Classic tennis tournament Tuesday, overcoming a slow start at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach. The sixth-seeded Williams defeated Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round.

“It was a little tough,” she said. “It was my first real match since the French Open. I played Fed Cup, but that’s kind of different.

“It feels good. You forget how it is to be out there. “

The match, which lasted nearly two hours, was marked by erratic play. Williams’ forehand was flying long and wide and she double-faulted five times. Likhovtseva double-faulted nine times.

“I think I was playing awful today, in practice, though, you should see me,” Williams said. “I’m ready to compete on the men’s tour. But in a match situation, especially in a tournament, is a lot different.”

The only seeded player to exit Tuesday was No. 8 Sandrine Testud of France. Wild-card entry Corina Morariu defeated Testud, 6-1, 6-3. Also making a quick departure was Wimbledon semifinalist Mirjana Lucic of Croatia. Lisa Raymond, who qualified, defeated Lucic, 6-3, 6-1. Lucic has lost in the first round in the last two tournaments since Wimbledon.

In another first-round match, Anke Huber of Germany defeated Wimbledon semifinalist Alexandra Stevenson of San Diego, 6-4, 6-4. It was Stevenson’s first match on the WTA tour since Wimbledon.

Williams avoided joining Testud, Lucic and Stevenson by raising her level of play the final two sets.

“It was pretty intense, she was really playing good,” Williams said of Likhovtseva. “She was actually playing the best tennis I’ve ever seen her play. There was a time, in the past, where I’d hit a ball, hit it hard at her and she wouldn’t be able to get it back. And now she got it back and deep.”

Earlier this year, Williams was the talk of the tennis world when she won back-to-back events in Paris and Indian Wells, Calif. Her winning streak reached 16 matches before she lost to her older sister, Venus, in the final at Lipton in March.

After that, she lost in the quarterfinals of two clay-court tournaments. At the French Open, Williams exited much earlier than expected, losing to Mary Joe Fernandez in the third round.

Then Williams withdrew a few days before Wimbledon because of flu. That sparked a mini-controversy, and Martina Navratilova speculated on HBO that Serena may have been trying to avoid playing Venus.

The Williamses said that was not the case. And Serena chuckled about the talk.

“I was really ill before Wimbledon,” she said. “I lost a lot of weight, actually, about 10 pounds. I wasn’t hitting. A lot of people speculated. It’s fun to see your name in the press, speculating, ‘Where is she really?’ ”

A male reporter asked her if she had regained the weight.

“What are you saying?” she asked. “What do you mean? I’m getting on a diet now. I’m not going to eat for the rest of the month.”

Williams was in a playful mood. Her father, Richard, was spotted taking pictures of her during the match. She liked that.

“I love to get my daily dose of me,” Williams said. “My house, I’ll have a lot of mirrors.”

She was clearly pleased to be back on the tour after the long absence.

“I’m not really as interested because I’m not there and, hey, if I’m not there it doesn’t really matter,” she said of being off the circuit. “Sometimes it’s nice to read about it, but not really, it’s not the same. You feel left out.”

Acura Classic

STADIUM COURT

Manhattan Beach Country Club

* Beginning at 10 a.m.--Julie Halard-Decugis vs. Amy Frazier; Ruxandra Dragomir vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (4); Mary Pierce (3) vs. Ai Sugiyama; Serena Williams (6) vs. Patty Schnyder.

* Beginning at 7:30 p.m.--Lisa Raymond vs. Martina Hingis (2).