Not all the moving parts of Serena Williams’s game are working with quite the smoothness of old, but the internal combustion engine remains as reliable as ever. Williams marked her first competitive outing since Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Nuria Párrizas Díaz of Spain at the National Bank Open in Toronto, and while her first singles victory in more than a year was not quite as comfortable as that score-line might suggest, she has clearly not forgotten the location of the overdrive button.
Calm and assured in the early stages, Williams was slowly drawn into a dogfight by the 57th-ranked Spaniard. Yet the manner in which she raised her game at the key moments, seeing off a glut of break points with that mixture of boldness and belligerence that is uniquely hers, suggested the competitive fire still burns. Aces flew down. Groundstrokes were drilled, drop shots caressed, fists clenched. In all, Williams saved seven of the eight break points she faced. The champion of 23 majors was clearly in no mood for another first-round exit like the one she suffered against Harmony Tan at Wimbledon.
The look of quiet joy on so many faces in the crowd told its own story. Williams has been coming here since she was a teenager, winning the title three times, and the affection of the locals was evident. They know she won’t be around forever. Karl Hale, the tournament director, has spoken of wanting to give Serena and her sister Venus, who faces Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann in the opening round, “a great last experience in Toronto”. That may or may not have been a slip of the tongue. Notably, though, when she was asked about the source of her enduring competitive appetite, Williams did little to dispel the notion that this week could mark her Canadian Open swansong.
“I guess there’s just a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Williams, who will be 41 next month. “I don’t know, I guess I’m [getting] closer to the light. Lately, that’s been it for me. I can’t wait to get to that light. I’m not joking.”
She is excited about what awaits on the other side.
“Freedom. Yeah. I love playing, though, so it’s amazing. But, you know, I can’t do this forever. So it’s just, like, sometimes you just want to try your best to enjoy the moments and do the best that you can.”
The sentiment is one Párrizas Díaz will recognise. Last year, the 31-year-old Spaniard became the fourth-oldest player in history to break the top 100 in the rankings. Now ranked 54th – after reaching a career high of 45 in March – Párrizas Díaz has credited her late blossoming to her coach, Carlos Boluda Purkiss, whom she began dating in 2020. Here, after an understandably nervous start, she grew steadily in confidence, cancelling out an early break before denying Williams three set points as she served for the opener.
That sequence seemed to encourage Párrizas Díaz, who began to find greater depth and consistency from the baseline. Staying with Williams on serve, the Spaniard fashioned break points in three consecutive service games, forcing the former champion to produce her best tennis of the match.
That was never more apparent than in the fourth game, where Párrizas Díaz smoked a backhand winner to set up a point for a 3-1 lead. It drew an impressive response from Williams. There were gasps from the crowd as the former champion defended brilliantly and at length out of her backhand corner, ratcheting up the pace and intensity before drilling away an untouchable forehand.
The crux of the contest came in the fourth game, where Párrizas Díaz threw all she had at Williams in a game of nine deuces, cat-and-mouse rallies, sparkling winners and clipped lines on either side of the net. Through it all, Williams stood firm, serving her way out of trouble as she fought off four break points.
“I felt like I competed well today, and I think that’s what I needed to do, is just to compete,” said Williams, who will play either Belinda Bencic, the 12th seed, or Tereza Martincova in round two.
“Mentally, I feel I’m getting there. I’m not where I normally am, and I’m not where I want to be. But I think any match that I play, whether I win or lose, it helps me get there mentally.
“Because I haven’t played a lot in the last year, two years. So I think that that really helps me. Physically I feel much better in practice, it’s just like getting that to the court. But literally I’m the kind of person who it just takes one or two things and then it clicks. So I’m just waiting on that to click.”
With the US Open looming, Williams will be hoping that happens sooner rather than later.