Italian Open 2019: Serena Williams Win Highlights Monday's Rome Masters Results

Serena Williams made a winning return to the court as she beat Rebecca Peterson 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the 2019 Italian Open on Monday.

A four-time champion at the Rome Masters, Williams started slowly against her Swedish opponent, but she eventually found her groove to claim victory in 75 minutes. 

The 37-year-old will face her sister Venus in the next round, who overcame Elise Mertens in three sets. Elsewhere in the women's draw, Great Britain's Johanna Konta downed American Alison Riske in straight sets.

Meanwhile, in the men's tournament, 10th seed Fabio Fognini was too good for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, as he moved into the last-32 with a routine win.

Selected Monday Results

Men's Singles 

(10) Fabio Fognini bt. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: 6-3, 6-4

(11) Karen Khachanov bt. Lorenzo Sonego: 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-3

(13) Borna Coric bt. Felix Auger-Aliassime: 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4

Albert Ramos Vinolas bt. (15) Gael Monfils: 6-3, 6-1

(16) Marco Cecchinato bt. Alex De Minaur: 4-6, 6-3, 6-1

Women's Singles

(10) Serena Williams bt. Rebecca Peterson: 6-4, 6-2

(13) Madison Keys bt. Polona Hercog: 6-4, 7-6 (3)

(14) Anett Kontaveit bt. Mona Barthel: 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Katerina Siniakova bt. (15) Qiang Wang: 1-6, 7-5, 6-4

Full results and schedule can be found via the Pro Tennis Live app.

Monday Recap                 

Williams' last competitive appearance came almost two months ago at the Miami Open, when she beat Peterson in the second round before having to withdraw from the competition due to a knee injury.

Against the same opponent on Monday, the legendary American immediately looked to get on the front foot as she earned early break points.

She failed to take them, though, and then double-faulted twice in the fourth game of the match to go 3-1 behind to 23-year-old Peterson.

That dropped service game prompted Serena to move up a gear and she won five of the next six games to take the set in 38 minutes.

Given the injury and time off, it was impressive stuff from the 23-time Grand Slam champion, who has enjoyed immense success on clay despite it not being her best surface.

Williams showed fine variation with some excellent net play, produced some stunning winners off the backhand side and won 10 of 12 points behind her first serve:

The one-way traffic continued into the second set despite Peterson's best efforts.

Serena broke for a 2-1 lead and then produced one of the points of the match to get a double break at 5-2.

After approaching the net and being dragged around the court by Peterson, Williams showed she still boasts immense athleticism to produce a forehand crosscourt winner:

It was far from routine as she served out the match, however, as she went 15-40 behind only to produce a backhand down-the-line winner and an ace.

Williams eventually forced Peterson long to wrap up the match on the opening day of action in the Italian capital. 

Her sister Venus appears to be in fine form at this competition too, as she held off a spirited fightback from Mertens. The Belgian dug deep to stay in the match, before Williams secured progression in a tiebreak:

Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times looked back on when the siblings last met in the Italian capital:

In the men's draw, the top-ranked player to progress was Fognini, making light work of a potentially dangerous opponent in Tsonga.

On Tuesday we'll see more big names for the first time. Fourth seeds Alexander Zverev and Karolina Pliskova will begin their pursuit of glory in Rome.