Rusty Serena Makes Winning Comeback after Injury Lay-off

World number two Serena Williams made a successful return after almost four months out as she won her first-round match at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

The 35-year-old, who last week announced her engagement, defeated France’s Pauline Parmentier 6-3 6-4.
Williams had been on the sidelines with shoulder and knee problems since the US Open semi-finals in September.

“You always feel rusty for your first match,” she said. “But mentally I knew how to get it back and get in there.”
Williams had to wait an extra day to make her first appearance of 2017 after rain forced the postponement of her first-round match on Monday.

She took 74 minutes to beat the world number 69, serving eight aces, including one on match point, but also four double-faults in the swirling wind.

“It was so windy out there,” she added. “You really have to be ready to move your feet, so I went to what my coach told me and I was like ‘you know how to play in the wind, you’ve done it many times before’ so I just tried to adjust to it.’’

Williams will next face compatriot Madison Brengle, the world number 74.
Meanwhile,Sir Andy Murray extended his career-best winning streak in competitive matches to 25 with a straight-set win over Jeremy Chardy in the first round of the Qatar Open.

The British world number one, 29, beat the Frenchman 6-0 7-6 (7-2).
Chardy lost the first set in 20 minutes, but offered resistance in the second, taking it into a tie-break.
Murray will play Gerald Melzer in the next round after the Austrian beat Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-2.
The Scot said he was “pushed to the end” by the world number 69.

“He didn’t start well,” said Murray, a three-time finalist in this tournament.
“It’s always difficult, the first match of the year. Both of us were probably feeling a bit nervous.
“In the second set he played well. He was a lot more aggressive.”

Murray looked on course for a one-sided victory when Chardy failed to hold serve in the first set.
But the Frenchman – who amassed seven double faults and 32 unforced errors in the match – broke Murray in the first game of the second set and managed to test the Briton until the tie-break.

Murray’s victory extended his winning streak in ATP Tour matches to 25 – the best of his career. His previous best run of consecutive wins was 22, which was ended by Marin Cilic at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
Since then, his only loss on the ATP Tour has been a US Open quarter-final defeat by Kei Nishikori – although he was also defeated by Juan Martin del Potro in a Davis Cup match in September and by David Goffin in an exhibition tournament at the end of December.

British number four Aljaz Bedene reached the second round of the Chennai Open with a 6-3 6-3 win over Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The 27-year-old needed one hour and 15 minutes to beat the unseeded Spaniard.
Bedene, who reached round three of the French Open last year, hit seven aces against the former world number 23.
He will next play Slovakia’s Martin Klizan, ranked 66 places above Bedene in the world rankings at 35.