World No 1 Serena Williams [ Images ] 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 [ Images ] in January.

The American, who suffered a knee injury after beating Justine Henin [ Images ] to lift the Australian title in Melbourne [ Images ] 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 [ Images ] 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 [ Images ].

"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 [ Images ], I'll be playing really well. It (Tuesday's match) is definitely a start."

SAFINA OUSTED

Russian holder Dinara Safina [ Images ], 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 [ Images ], also back from injury, cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Swiss Patty Schnyder [ Images ].