Williams’ marquee Aussie opener vs. Bencic turned into the Serena show

Every year we find a new reason to doubt Serena Williams.

At the start of 2016, many of us wondered if her devastating defeat to Roberta Vinci at the U.S. Open the previous fall would finally shake her commitment to the sport as she reached her mid-30s. She answered those doubts right away at the Australian Open, where she looked as sharp as ever on her way to reaching the final. Six months later, Serena won her 22nd Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon. She didn’t, as she has said this week, have a great season by her standards, but how many players have ever finished No. 2 while playing just seven events?

Twelve months later, the doubts about Serena surround her recent announcement that she’s engaged. Surely this was a sign that she’s ready to look past her career on court. Surely this would leave her more distracted during the fortnight in Melbourne. The early evidence lent support to this conclusion: Serena was awful in her first match of 2017, a three-set loss to 69th-ranked Madison Brengle in Auckland. When the draw was made in Melbourne and Serena was paired against former (and future) Top Tenner Belinda Bencic, many of us wondered again if she was ready for that early challenge.

Again, Serena wasted no time answering the doubters. First, she told us that she “didn’t come here to lose in the round or the second round, or at all.” Obviously Bencic, who beat Serena a year and a half ago, had her attention. On Tuesday, Serena proved to be as good as her word, when she beat Bencic in mostly convincing fashion, 6-4, 6-3, in 79 minutes.

“I think it was pretty good,” Serena said afterward, in her customary, I-can-always-do-better fashion. “I mean, she’s a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well.”

Serena started out, as she often does, by sending a message down to the other side of the court. It was carried in her serve, of course; she finished with eight aces, and had success kicking her second ball above Bencic’s head. But it was also carried with her return.

Serena swung away on her forehand returns from the start. In the early going, she mistimed them—one went five feet wide, a couple of others into the net. Most players in that situation would back off, get a few balls in, and try to find a rhythm on the shot. Not Serena. She kept firing, and kept sending the message to Bencic that she was going to be on her heels all afternoon.

Her intransigence finally paid off at the end of the set. With Bencic serving at 4-5, Serena connected on a big forehand return for a winner to make it 15-30, and another that handcuffed Bencic at set point. The message had been received: as in so many Serena matches, one service break led to another, and she quickly went up 3-0 in the second set.

In other words, Serena was winning in her own unique and sometimes counterintuitive way. She looked off-balance and flat-footed at times. She framed a couple of volleys, but they went for winners anyway. She made the same number of errors—30—as winners, and sent a lot of balls sailing long in the extreme heat. But by now Serena has learned not to let the perfect get in the way of the effective. She knew she was going to win this match with force rather than consistency, and she was right. The 19-year-old Bencic, who has been injured over the last year and could still get in better shape, wasn’t able to catch up to Serena’s pace.

“I was definitely not disappointed of how I played,” Bencic said, “but I knew that I played good. But obviously, it’s not enough against Serena...I think she was very focused and played good.”

This win was also vintage Serena in a way that likely won’t make her happy. She has struggled to close out big matches in recent years, even when she seems to be cruising. It happened again here; up 5-1, Serena threw in a couple of double faults, and at 5-3 was on the verge of letting Bencic back in the match. But she didn’t. In the end her serve, as it has been so many times before, was her firewall.

“I made a few errors on some key points,” Serena said, “but for the most part I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out.”

So much for the Serena who would be vulnerable and distracted against a young star-to-be. While her fiancé is in Melbourne, she says she’s putting off thoughts of her personal life until next month. At 35, Serena seems to have found a system for compartmentalizing, and thus avoiding burnout and career-threatening injury. She says she would be happy to play the same abbreviated schedule she did last year, and it’s hard to argue with its success. While younger players like Bencic and Madison Keys are forced to skip majors due to injury, Serena always has herself ready for the tournaments that matter to her. She hasn’t missed a Slam since 2011.

Serena made her Aussie Open debut in 1998, two months before Bencic turned one. Nineteen years later, she’s still winning her way. Do you dare to doubt her?