World No 1 Serena Williams announced her return from injury by overpowering Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 7-6, 6-1 at the Italian Open on Tuesday in her first match since winning the Australian Open in January.
The American, who suffered a knee injury after beating Justine Henin to lift the Australian title in Melbourne after a three-set battle, looked listless in the early stages of her second-round match and struggled on serve.
Bacsinszky capitalised, mixing things up nicely with her drop shots especially effective against a leg-weary Serena and unleashing eye-catching winners from both sides to break twice and race 4-1 ahead on the red clay surface.
Williams clawed her way back, despite a few erratic moments, saving three set points on her opponent's serve before dominating the tiebreak and the second set to book a meeting with Germany's Andrea Petkovic.
"I got off to a bit of a slow start but it was good I was able to fight it off," the 12-times singles grand slam winner told a news conference at the warm-up for the French Open.
"I don't think anything went wrong. I thought she played excellently. She was really playing well so I just had to pick up the level of my game."
"I hope by the time I get to Roland Garros, I'll be playing really well. It (Tuesday's match) is definitely a start."
SAFINA OUSTED
Russian holder Dinara Safina, also plagued by injury problems, slumped to a 6-4, 6-7, 6-1 defeat by World No 43 Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.
Third-seeded Safina, who has missed most of the season with a back injury, made a sluggish start on clay made heavy by rain and trailed 4-0.
She levelled at 4-4 but surrendered the initiative immediately, skewing an easy volley wide to lose serve on the way to conceding the first set.
She eventually claimed a topsy-turvy second set on a tiebreak before crumbling in the decider.
"I'd been two months completely without touching the racquet and simply not doing any practice or preparation," Safina said. "I practised just a little bit and obviously this was very disappointing.
"The only good thing about this match was that my back didn't create any problems."
Foruth seed Venus Williams, also back from injury, cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Swiss Patty Schnyder.
Twice champion Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, seeded seven, overcame American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
