Serena and Venus Williams successfully opened their 2019 clay season at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, setting up their 31st career meeting in the second round of the Premier 5 tournament.
Playing her first match since March and just ninth this season, the tenth-seeded Serena, who has won Rome four times, most recently in 2016, recorded a routine 6-4 6-2 win over Swedish qualifier Rebecca Peterson.
The first to take the lead in the match was the world No.64 Peterson, 3-1, after saving break points in her first two service games. The 37-year-old Williams then began to take control, winning five of the next six games to take the first set and then converting two out of two break point opportunities to take the second set, which she closed out by serving two aces and saving two break points in her final service game.