Serena tested, Serena advances at Aus Open

Serena Williams had her hands full against Lucie Safarova on Thursday night but the six-time Australian Open champion had an ace up her sleeve – she’s Serena.

“I knew that I wanted to just be Serena,” Williams said after her 6-3 6-4 win on Rod Laver Arena.

“That’s what I’m good at doing, is being Serena. That’s what I wanted to do.”

Pressed on what ‘being Serena’ means to her, the 22-time grand slam winner elaborated.

“To me, it’s being a champion, but not only by the way I play, but the things I do off the court as well,” she said.

“I know that being Serena on the court is in a way being calm, which is in my name, but always having that fire as well.

“I think, most of all, being confident. I should be confident because there’s no other Serena. I mean, I’m Serena. Maybe there is another one, but she’s not in tennis.

“So I think sometimes I forget. I try to be so humble that I forget I have accomplished so much. I really wanted today to just have confidence when I was out there.”

Safarova, who was beaten by Williams in the final of the 2015 French Open, played at a high level but Williams was able to maintain that level on a more consistent basis, blasting 15 aces and 35 winners in an enthralling contest.

Williams will play compatriot Nicole Gibbs next having had to overcome two high-quality opponents in Safarova and Belinda Bencic in the first two rounds.

“Honestly, it’s not ideal,” Williams said.

“But at the end of the day, when I play players like Bencic and Safarova, they force me to play better. It forces my game from the very first day to be at a high level. So I think it’s actually good.

“I needed something to start really fast. I’m not going to complain about it.”

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