Serena passes $10m mark

 

Originally published on: 22/10/13 00:00

The world No.1 powered to a 6-3 6-1 victory in just 63 minutes as she opened her title defence in commanding fashion, losing just 11 points on her serve.

"I feel really good, I think I served really well,” said Williams, who fired 31 winners to 11 unforced errors. “She's beaten me before so I was really a little nervous and so focused going into this match. I really felt like I had to play well to win today."

If Williams wins the title in Turkey without losing a match, the American will surpass $12 million in prize money for the year, obliterating the previous best of Victoria Azarenka, who won $7,923,920 in 2012.

In her opening match in Turkey, world No.2 Azarenka broke a three-match losing streak to battle to a 7-6(4) 6-2 victory over Sara Errani.  The Italian started brightly, streaking to a 5-2 lead in the opener, but struggled with a calf injury as Azarenka clawed her way back into the match to secure an opening win.

Meanwhile, 2011 champion Petra Kvitova overpowered third seed Agnieszka Radwanska to open her campaign with a win in Istanbul. Kvitova was forced to withdraw from the tournament 12 months ago after losing in straight sets to Radwanska, but it was a different story on Tuesday as she powered to a 6-4 6-4 victory.

"I feel really happy – it was a tough match for the first round," Kvitova said. "I also lost to her in my first match here last year, so I didn't have very nice memories against her here, but I just tried to stay aggressive today and not have many mistakes – I knew those were the keys to the match today."

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here