Serena Williams posts 1st victory in more than 3 months

<p>PARMA, Italy &mdash; Serena Williams earned her first victory in more than three months by beating 17-year-old qualifier Lisa Pigato 6-3, 6-2 Monday in the first round of the Emilia-Romagna Open.</p>
<p>Williams, who accepted a wild-card invitation for the Parma tournament after losing her opening match at the Italian Open last week, dominated after dropping her serve in the opening game.</p>
<p>Williams hadn’t won since beating Simona Halep in the Australian Open quarterfinals in February. She was eliminated from the year’s first Grand Slam tournament by Naomi Osaka in the semifinals.</p>
<p>After some time off, Williams then <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tennis-sports-8e937d6b15351226e17433d7c98db44e">lost in straight sets</a> in Rome to Nadia Podoroska, a French Open semifinalist last year.</p>
<p>Williams is preparing for Roland Garros, which starts in two weeks.</p>
<p>It was the first WTA match for Pigato and the 1,001st for Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion.</p>
<p>Williams will next face 68th-ranked Katerina Siniakova, who eliminated Danish teenager Clara Tauson 6-1, 6-3.</p>
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