World number one Serena Williams overcame a wobbly start to open the defence of her Sony Open crown with a spirited 7-6 6-2 win over Kazakhstan’s Yaro-slava Shvedova.

Fourth seeded Russian Maria Sharapova, who lost to Williams in last year’s final, turned in a steady opening effort after a shock third round exit at Indian Wells last week, brushing past Japan’s Kurumi Nara 6-3 6-4.

A six-time winner on the Miami hardcourts, Williams’s second round meeting with the 59th-ranked Shvedova was expected to be little more than a tune-up for the 17-time grand slam winner but for a brief moment the match delivered some unexpected suspense.

“My opponents was doing a little bit of everything,” Williams told reporters.

“She was hitting hard, she was hitting soft, she was doing a little bit of everything.

“I was making a little more errors than what I should have been making, what I should’ve made, and that kind of threw me for a loop, as well.

“She was up a break (in the first set) and I started just really trying to fight to make the shots.

“And then when she was serving for the first set I really just tried to be more Serena like.”

The contest began with Williams seizing control 3-1 but Shvedova had a sparse centre court crowd buzzing after breaking the American twice on the way to a 5-3 lead.

But with Shvedova serving for the match, Williams showed why she is the sport’s dominant player breaking her opponent and forcing the opening set to a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Shvedova, who had never taken a set off Williams in three previous meetings, surged ahead 6-3 but then crumbled under the mounting pressure, double-faulting before the defending champion blasted a pair of aces past her.

Williams then clinched the set in emphatic fashion, a crushing forehand followed by an equally forceful fist-pump.

After trading breaks to open the second set, Shvedova would hold serve before a focused Williams moved in for the kill, sweeping the next five games to secure a passage to the next round.

“It’s definitely going to help, knowing that I was able to pull that through after being down pretty drastically,” said Williams, who will next face France’s Caroline Garcia.

Garcia advanced to the third round with a 7-6 7-6 upset of 27th seed Klara Zakopalova.

A five-time runner-up in Miami, Sharapova has her sights firmly set on finally making the Miami’s winner’s circle but will not face a re-match in the final against Williams, with both on the same side of the draw.

Hewitt milestone

Lleyton Hewitt’s 600th win looked very much like every other of his ATP Tour career as the Australian battler scraped his way past Robin Haase 3-6 6-3 6-3 in the first round of the Sony Open.

In a testament to his tenacity, Hewitt became just the third active player to achieve the milestone, joining an elite group that includes two of the all-time greats, Roger Federer (937) and Rafa Nadal (674).

“Today was just like another match and an opportunity to go out there and play well,” Hewitt told reporters.

“Obviously afterwards, you know, a great milestone.

“Not many people get to achieve that. Not many people get the opportunity to get close to that, so it means I have been around for an awfully long time, as well.

“I’m getting old.”

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