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Reuters
Serena Williams earned her first singles win in over a year with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Spain's Nuria Palisas Diaz in the first round of the National Bank Open in Toronto on Monday. .
Williams scored her seven aces and after a 79-minute second set she saved seven of her eight break points as she advanced to the second round. did. She next faces the winner of Tuesday's match between Switzerland's Belinda Bencic and Czech Republic's Teresa Martincova.
Williams then said she could see "the light at the end of the tunnel," indicating she still had a game win on Monday.
"But I love playing, so that's great. But you know, I can't do this forever," said the 23-time Grand Slam winner. "So sometimes it seems like you just want to enjoy the moment and do the best you can to make the most of it." It was Williams' 35th win in a draw, breaking the record tied for most with Chris Evert.
In Monday's other first-round match, Czech Republic 14th seed Karolina Pliskova defeated compatriot Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-4, while Romania's 15th seed Simona Halep beats Croatia's Donna Vekic. 6-0, 6-2. 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia also won her sets in straight sets, beating Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-2.
13th seed Leila Fernandez (Canada) defeated Storm Sanders (Australia) 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-3.
Sloane Stevens defeated Sophia Kenin 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in two U.S. games, while Asia Muhammad beat Madison Keys 7-6 (5). , down by 6. -4 Alizee Cornet won her 3-6 6-3 6-3 in her French Open matchup against Caroline Garcia.
Other first-round winners include Kazakhstan's Elena Rivakina and Yulia Putintseva, Brazil's Beatrice Haddad Maia, and U.S. Alison Riske's Amri Traj.
In the final match of the night, USA's Venus Williams will face Switzerland's Jill Teichmann.
– Field Level Media
