AUCKLAND CLASSIC
Serena shakes off rust in comeback
Third and fourth seeds, Caroline Wozniacki and Barbora Strycova, both cruise through their opening tennis matches at the Auckland Classic
Auckland — Serena Williams overcame rust and a troublesome wind to launch her comeback from a four-month lay-off with a 6-3 6-4 win over 69th-ranked Pauline Parmentier at the Auckland Classic on Tuesday. In her first outing since she was shocked by Karolina Pliskova in the US Open semifinals in September, the world No2 made a sluggish start to a season in which she is seeking a record 23rd Grand Slam title. In her first-round match, delayed from Monday when rain washed out play, Williams struggled initially as France’s Parmentier broke Williams’s first service game and then held to love. The 35-year-old, using Auckland to warm up for the Australian Open, only had a 48% success rate with her first serve and double-faulted four times as she had trouble adjusting to the swirling wind. But Williams — who shares the Open-era record of 22 Grand Slams with Steffi Graf, and is two behind Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 — grew steadily stronger and finished with her eighth ace. "I def...
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