Serena Finds Time to Win

The daily dose of Serena Williams had dwindled since she won the U.S. Open in 1999 and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2000.

Maybe it was maturity, but Williams had not been the quote machine of old.

Or perhaps the right questions weren’t being asked, because Williams regained her way with words after a brief scare against the lightly-regarded Anca Barna of Germany.

Relief and giddiness resurfaced after Williams served 11 aces, defeating Barna, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, in 1 hour 33 minutes at the U.S. Open on Monday night in front of a gallery of celebrities, including Sen. Hillary Clinton and pop singer Brandy.

Whether it was the star power in the stands or Barna’s crafty lefty shots, Williams took a while to get settled down, committing 11 unforced errors in the first three games and 42 in all.

“It was weird because I’ve been practicing really good,” she said. “In practice, I just look like a billion dollars.”

Serena also approved of how she appeared on the cover of Time magazine with her sister Venus.

The headline: “The Sisters vs. The World. Taunts! Tantrums! Talent! Why the women, led by Venus and Serena Williams, are pushing the men off center court.”

“I never read articles,” Serena said. “I just look at the pictures. It was a nice picture on the cover. I liked how my hair was a little aerodynamic.

“It was cool.”

The Open’s first day was long on action--Marcelo Rios of Chile and Markus Hipfl of Austria did not take the court until 10:50 p.m. EDT and were still in the third set after 1 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

A rain delay also prolonged proceedings, moving many of the day matches into the night session.

Long on action did not mean long on drama, other than wild card Bob Bryan’s human highlight reel of three diving volleys in the first set of his straight-set loss to two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter.

“I think I was lucky,” said Bryan of Camarillo, who made the third volley from his knees. “I was thinking SportsCenter all the way after I hit that. Guys are telling me in the locker room that that’s maybe one of the top 10 points in Open history.”

Because the top players moved on with little trouble, other than Serena, the Time article, which came out on Monday, became the topic of interest in the interview room.

Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport, in particular, faced tough questioning about their remarks even though most of the quotes came from interviews conducted months ago.

Hingis suggested, in the article, that the Williams sisters are at an advantage because of their race. Martina Navratilova said observers are afraid to criticize the family because they don’t want to be called racist.

This all put Williams on the spot, and she handled the controversy well.

“All I know is I get endorsements because I win and I work hard,” she said.

“I go out there and have a good attitude and I smile.

”... You can go back and read all my transcripts. I never said in an article or interview, ‘This happened to me because I’m black.’

“I have gone to a store and been treated differently because I was black once.

“Other than that, no.”

Hingis said she was sorry if she hurt anybody’s feelings but said she thought that at the time when she first made the remarks in March at the Ericsson Open.

Some of Davenport’s past words haunted her on Monday, too. She was critical of the WTA in the Time article, saying: “Places were selling out, and they still couldn’t get a sponsor. Players were getting fed up. As far as a leader of women’s tennis, they’ve totally failed us.

“Nobody helped us get there except the players. The success is pure luck for the WTA.”

WTA officials were bothered by her remarks, and Davenport was in serious back-pedal mode, saying she had made those remarks six months ago, that the tour had improved and things should continue to improve after a new chief executive officer is named to replace Bart McGuire.

The WTA had hoped to name a successor at the Open but apparently that announcement could be delayed until the season-ending championship in Germany, a source said.

Though Hingis smiled and did not seemed bothered by the tough media session, Davenport was not pleased with the scrutiny, standing up at the end and saying quietly, “Geez, that was brutal.”

And, just think, it was only Day 1.