SERENA WILLIAMS made short work of her first-round match at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati today as she dismissed opponent Daria Gavrilova in little more than an hour.

The former world No 1 pulled out of last week’s Rogers Cup in Montreal, citing “personal reasons” and had earlier suffered the worst defeat of her professional career against Johanna Konta in San Jose.

But any doubts about her fitness were soon quashed as she raced to a 6-1 6-2 victory, firing eight aces and using an aggressive forehand to overcome Australia’s Gavrilova in 66 minutes.

“You’ve got to be able to go back-to-back,” said Williams, a two-time Cincinnati champion. “I don’t get byes any more right now. I’m OK with it.

“I [felt] pretty good tonight. It’s never easy, no matter what the scoreline says. Definitely felt relaxed after the first break, but it’s just the very beginning of the match. You know, you’ve got to keep going and try to go in for the whole thing. 

“I realised after Wimbledon that this is a journey for me. It’s going to come and I’m taking it one day at a time. 

“I’m just fortunate to be back here on these courts playing tennis. Everything is truly amazing.”

Serena once again touched upon how she is adapting to being a mother and professional tennis player.

Last week she posted on social media the difficulties she faces balancing the two and hailed the mums who are going through the same thing as her, calling them “the true heroes.”

“This is a whole new position that I’m in,” she added. “This is like — I have been through a lot of stuff in my life, but I have never been through this, have a baby and feeling with the emotions and the ups and downs and the fears and the excitement, quite frankly. 

“So, for me, it’s just — I just love talking about it, because I feel like a lot of people have those same emotions and they don’t have the same platform as I have. And mostly, I want women out there to know if I’m going through it and, you know, I know you’re going through it, then, you know, we’re in this together. Everyone, no matter who we are, kind of always have the same feelings.” 

Elsewhere, Britain’s Konta was unable to find the form she displayed against Williams in San Jose as she was beaten 4-6 6-3 6-4 by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, whose countrywoman Victoria Azarenka, a wild card this year, also advanced after beating Carla Suarez Navarro 6-7 (5/7) 6-2 6-4.

In the day’s other matches, No 13 seed Madison Keys came from a set and break down to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

After missing tournaments in San Jose and Montreal due to a wrist injury, Keys hit 13 aces in total — eight in the final set — but needed seven match points to close out the win in two hours and 15 minutes.

Kristina Mladenovic moved into the second round after Germany’s Julia Goerges retired, while Rebecca Peterson triumphed 2-6 6-4 6-1 over Katerina Siniakova, and Alize Cornet beat Jelena Ostapenko 1-6 7-5 6-0.