Williams Overcomes Nerves With a Winning Return

Amid the hoopla, defending champion Serena Williams admitted she felt some anxiety at Manhattan Country Club.

“This feels weird,” Williams said Tuesday after a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jennifer Hopkins in the second round of the Estyle.com Classic, a tournament in which she has won 11 consecutive matches, including the last two finals.

Last month, during the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, Williams was playing Jennifer Capriati when she developed stomach pains. After taking medicine and continuing, Williams lost, 7-6 (4), 5-7, 3-6, committing 44 unforced errors. Tuesday was her first match since then.

“It didn’t feel too good today,” the fourth-seeded Williams said. “I’ve been working really, really, really hard. I just didn’t play the way I’ve been practicing. Maybe I was just excited to be back here again, in my hometown. I actually was a little nervous to be in front of my home crowd.”

In the first set, Williams trailed, 5-4, before putting it together for the victory. She said she was unable to exploit Hopkins’ limited mobility.

“I’m taking everything one match at a time now,” Williams said. “I felt like things weren’t really going my way, especially at Wimbledon.”

Williams said that in the past, she has put too much pressure on herself. After the time off, she said that she has refocused.

“I’m having more fun now than when I started playing,” said Williams, who will face Nicole Pratt of Australia tonight.

After losing in straight sets to Venus Williams in the Acura Classic final Sunday, sixth-seededMonica Seles showed no signs of a letdown, beating Santa Monica native Marissa Irvin, 6-3, 6-2.

Switzerland’s Martina Hingis, the No. 1 ranked player in the world and the top-seeded player in the tournament, beat Lilia Osterloh for the second time in as many weeks, 6-2, 7-5. Hingis defeated Osterloh in the second round last week at Carlsbad.

Hingis, who hasn’t won a tournament since February, admitted she may not be deserving of the No. 1-ranking.

“At this point, [Capriati] is probably the one who might even deserve it more than I do,” Hingis said. “But the year’s not over yet. There’s still more to come. It’s just the consistency that I had over the year that has put me at the No. 1 position for so long.”

Hingis also said doubles partner Anna Kournikova, who withdrew from the tournament Sunday night because of pain in her injured foot, saw a doctor on Tuesday.

“It was the buildup of playing, same with me,” Hingis said. “On hard courts, you are always going to have pounding. I have to be very careful.”

In another match, Nathalie Tauziat of France defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 6-3, 7-6 (1).

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Matches

10 a.m.--Elena Dementieva, Russia, vs. Kristina Brandi; Cara Black, Zimbabwe, vs. Kim Clijsters, Belgium; Nadejda Petrova, Russia, vs. Lindsay Davenport; Martina Hingis, Switzerland, vs. Elena Likhovtseva, Russia.

7 p.m.--Serena Williams vs. Nicole Pratt, Australia.