Rejuvenated Williams is dominant

After a six-month layoff, Serena Williams beat Anastasia Myskina 6-2, 6-2.
MASON (AP) -- Rested, relaxed and ready, Serena Williams is back.
Playing in her first tournament in six months, Williams beat Anastasia Myskina 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Western & amp; Southern Financial Group Women's Open.
"I felt really relaxed," Williams said after dominating Myskina in the 56-minute match. "I haven't felt this way in a long time."
Williams, who has been bothered by a chronic left knee injury, chose the Tier III event near Cincinnati for her first match since losing in the third round of the Australian Open.
"I almost could have played Wimbledon," she said. "I was about 60 or 70 percent then. But I probably would have had an embarrassing loss."
Williams said she was mentally refreshed, but felt a bit rusty.
"I could have returned better. I made a few easy errors I shouldn't have made," she said.
No match for Williams
While Williams was on hiatus, Myskina -- the 2004 French Open champion -- had played regularly and well, going 14-4 in her previous 18 matches, including four wins at Wimbledon. But she was no match Tuesday night for Williams, whose only tentative move was her first serve, clocked at 97 mph.
She soon cranked it up to the 120-plus mph range.
"I was surprised myself, because I wasn't serving that well in practice," she said.
Williams had beaten Myskina in all four previous matches between 1997 and 2004. But Myskina, ranked 11th in the world, was the tournament's No. 2 seed behind defending champion Patty Schnyder.
"Maybe I was the underdog," Williams said.
But she took charge early, winning the first two games and then rallying with four straight points to win the third game by simply out-muscling Myskina. The Russian held her next serve and made a run in the following game, when Williams double-faulted and then missed an overhead for the win. But another ace made it 4-1.
Myskina's observations
"She hadn't played in six months, so I didn't know what to expect," Myskina said. "Her serve was pretty good. I knew I was going to have to keep winning my serve if I was going to stay in the game."
Williams broke Myskina again in the eighth game to win the set, and Myskina bashed a ball to the court in disgust.
Williams struggled at times in the second set, but the outcome was never in doubt, even though Williams said she "had to stay extremely focused."
Williams, who was ranked No. 1 in the world for 57 weeks in 2002 and 2003, began the tournament ranked No. 139 because of her inactivity.
"It's devastating," she said of the humble ranking. "But I have no pressure on me. I have nowhere to go but up."