Scooping a half volley off her shoelaces, Venus Williams followed it forward as Anna Schmiedlova sized up the forehand sitter with a game point — and an expanse of open court — before her. Darting to her right just as Schmiedlova struck, Williams arrived at the spot before the ball and blocked a forehand volley winner down the line.
The sequence summed up the three-time Sony Open champion's return to tennis tonight: When it mattered most, Williams was a step quicker and a shot sharper in posting a 6-3, 6-3 sweep to reach the Miami third round for the 15th time.
It was Williams' first match since she roared through the Dubai field without dropping a set, crushing Alize Cornet in the final, to capture her 45th career title last month. There were plenty of positives — the 33-year-old Floridian moved quickly, attacked the ball vigorously and imposed her net game at the right times — as well as some patchy stretches: Venus served just 41 percent in the opening set, sometimes overplayed the down the line drive and was broken at 15 when she served for the match at 5-2.
Overall, the former No. 1 looked fit and played energetic tennis from the outset, opening with a three-ace game. Schmiedlova answered saving a break point for 1-all before Venus began to find the groove, winning eight of the next 10 points on her serve then blasting a backhand winner down the line to break for 4-2. Signs of rust were evident in the seventh game when Williams lost the plot in an unsightly three double-fault game that ended with her sailing an inside-out forehand wide to hand back the break.
The 73rd-ranked Slovak is a solid ball striker, who can crack her two-handed backhand crosscourt with depth and angle, but she sometimes struggled to time her high ball toss in the breeze and often predictably hit her kick second serve wide on the ad side right into Williams' expansive wheelhouse on the backhand side. The No. 29 seed pounded a forehand return winner off a 77 M.P.H second serve for triple break point, then won a rapid-fire face-off at net with a forehand volley right back at the 19-year-old to break at love — the third straight break — and snare a 5-3 lead. She closed the first set in 43 minutes.
Pressuring the teenager's forehand, which wasn't standing up to pace as well as her backhand, Williams drew successive errors to break for a 3-2 second set lead while Schmiedlova bounced her Wilson racquet off the court as if admonishing it for unruly behavior. A Schmiedlova pass down the line rattled Williams' racquet for break point, but she saved it with a flat forehand down the line and a clear "come on!" for deuce. The longest rally of the evening — a crackling side-to-side exchange that exceeded 20 shots — saw both women unload heavy forehands as Williams consolidated for a 4-2 advantage. Stepping up to the baseline, Williams reduced her opponent's reaction time, forcing two more forehand errors in winning her fourth straight game for a 5-2 advantage.
Stumbling a bit near the finish, Williams played her sloppiest game of the set trying to serve it out as Schmiedlova broke for 3-5 and had two game points on her own serve. But Williams' prescience at net wiped away the first and another wild forehand from the Slovak erased the opportunity as Venus wrapped up career victory No. 648 in 90 minutes.
"[It] made me feel a little old; it's good to still be here as an oldster," said Williams, who was 17 when she beat Anna Kournikova in the 1998 final to win her first Miami title. "She's very competitive. The first match is always good to try to get the feel of the ball, especially out here because it's windy. So I was happy to come through because she's tough."