Dressed like the belle of the ball, a fractious Serena Williams was made to look like a gatecrasher on Tuesday, scraping into the second round of the Australian Open on centre court.
A sigh of sheer relief replaced the world number one's confident smile when she finally overcame France's Emilie Loit, a woman without a singles title to her name, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5.
The diamond earrings and rhinestone-decorated outfit Williams wore for what had been expected to be a routine run-out looked increasingly inappropriate as the contest turned into a desperate fight for survival for the American title favourite.
"It was me, getting a little nervous and getting a little tight out there," she said. "I definitely regret the way I played today."
The American top seed may soon regret all her talk of going through 2003 unbeaten and of winning a 'Serena slam' -- the term she has given for winning a non-calendar year grand slam.
The holder of the French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open crowns, Williams needs the Australian crown to become only the fifth woman in the history of the sport to hold all four major titles at the same time.
Men's top seed Lleyton Hewitt was also made to sweat for his first round victory, pushed to five sets by 155th-ranked Magnus Larsson.
The Swede, in the twilight of his career, produced breathtaking tennis and showed flashes of the form that helped him into the top 10 in the mid 1990s as Hewitt struggled to contain his laid-back power.
Australian tournament favourite Hewitt eventually ground out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 win. It was a close-run thing, but not a patch on the ordeal Williams had endured on Melbourne Park's main showcourt.
OFFICIAL WARNING
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters, however, is likely to take comfort from the chinks in Williams's armour.
The Belgian was in irresistible form in her opening match, crushing American Samantha Reeves 6-2, 6-1.
Clijsters beat Serena in last year's season-ending WTA Championships and has now won 20 of her last 21 matches against all opposition.
The 19-year-old has also won four of the past five tournaments she has entered, including last weekend's Sydney International, and has been working out with boyfriend Lleyton Hewitt to boost her hopes of beating the Williams sisters.
"I've beaten Serena and Venus once before but every time I play against them it's a different match," Clijsters said.
"I don't know how close I am (to beating them again), it's hard to answer that. I'm just trying to get as fit as I can to be able to compete with the top girls."
During the weeks running up to the Open, Williams made it sound almost a formality that she would win in Melbourne. But on Tuesday, a 23-year-old ranked outside the world's top 50 revealed the truth to be very different.
Williams was made to run, scrap, fight all the way for her very survival.
At one stage in the second set Williams was three points from defeat. She was uncomfortable on court, furious with herself and was even given an official warning for an 'audible obscenity' when she screamed abuse after missing a return.
After the two-hour ordeal, however, she insisted she was never worried.
"I never thought I was going to lose that match, not at one point," she said before preferring to talk about her outfit.
"That extra design, I made that one up. I've got rhinestones that I attached with a heatgun. It's my design and I am really proud of it," she smiled, the on-court agonising forgotten.
IRRESISTIBLE FORM
The big names in the men's field advanced with little fuss on day two, third-seeded Russian Marat Safin beating Dutchman Raemon Sluiter 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and sixth-seeded Swiss Roger Federer ousting Brazilian Flavio Saretta 7-6, 7-5, 6-3.
"Was okay, you know," last year's runner-up Safin said after his win, fears of a shoulder injury evaporating. "The pain is going away, it's much, much better.
Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten warned that his confidence is on a real high after a convincing 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 victory over Moroccan Hicham Arazi in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday.
The triple French Open champion, who won the Auckland Open at the weekend, told reporters that he could not remember the last time he began a season in such an optimistic vein.
"It never really happens that I get my game going early in the year -- it's the first time," said Kuerten, who has never progressed beyond the second round in Melbourne in six previous visits.
