Serena Williams battles past Yaroslava Shvedova

World number one tennis star Serena Williams overcame a unsteady start to unlock the guard of her Sony Open crown with a brave 7-6(9-7) 6-2 win next to Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova on March 20.
Russian beauty Maria Sharapova vanished to Williams in previous year’s final, turned in a firm opening attempt after a surprise third round exit at Indian Wells, brushing Japan’s Kurumi Nara by 6-3, 6-4. A six-time champion on the Miami hard-court, Williams’ second round gathering with the 59th-ranked Shvedova was anticipated to be more than a tune-up for the 17 grand slam title holder but for a short instant the match distributed some unexpected nervousness.
Williams said that,“She was doing a little bit of everything. She was hitting hard; she was hitting soft; she was doing a little bit of everything. I was making a little more errors than what I should have been making, what I should’ve made, and that kind of threw me for a loop, as well.”
“She was up a break (in the first set) and I started just really trying to fight to make the shots. And then when she was serving for the first set I really just tried to be more Serena like.”