WTA Parma: Serena Williams wins - and her opponent takes a selfie
Serena Williams celebrated a first success at the WTA tournament in Parma / Italy. The American won against the Italian qualifier Lisa Pigato 6: 3, 6: 2.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 17, 2021, 06:34 pm
Williams won a match for the first time since the Australian Open. There she had lost in the semifinals to the eventual winner Naomi Osaka. Then the 39-year-old was physically incapacitated, the Miami Open she had missed because of an operation in the mouth.
Williams had played in Rome last week, but lost to Nadia Podoroska at the start .
The world number eight is in Parma with a wildcard at the start and top seed. In round 2 she meets Katerina Siniakova, who defeated Clara Tauson 6: 1, 6: 3.
Williams not only achieved an important success in Parma, she also made her opponent happy afterwards.
For the 17-year-old Lisa Pigato it was the first appearance at a WTA tournament, she is currently listed on place 572 in the world rankings. Last year she won the junior women's doubles competition. Pigato had now participated in the qualification of a WTA event for the first time - thanks to a wildcard - and won both games, including against the world rankings 105. Ludmilla Samsonova.
Not only because of this, Pigato will be particularly fond of the appearance in Parma. Because after the match against Williams, she asked them for a selfie. A request that the 23-time Grand Slam winner was happy to comply with. Both chatted a bit afterwards.
Williams: "Wish I had done that"
"Lisa played really well," said Williams afterwards. "Her future will be great, she handled this situation well. I will certainly keep my fingers crossed for her in the future."
Williams also found the "photo situation" strong. Usually she does this in the locker room, she found Pigato's question "cool and brave". "It was her first WTA match, so it was a good opportunity for a photo that she can look back on in years. I wish I had done that after my first match, that would have been cool."
Even if difficult: Williams had played her first WTA match in 1995, camera phones were still a long way off at the time ...