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Not maxed out yet Serena shopping around while cruising on the court
PARIS (Reuters) -- Serena Williams's credit cards have been getting more of a workout in Paris than the American sixth seed, who moved into the French Open fourth round on Saturday with an effortless win over Hungary's Zsofia Gubacsi. An admitted shopaholic, the muscular Williams has also started to make winning a habit at Roland Garros as she overpowered the Hungarian qualifier 6-1 6-2 in 56 minutes to reach the last 16 and equal her best performance at the tournament. The speedy dispatch also left Williams with more time for her favorite hobby -- shopping. But with an eye on the $586,000 winner's purse that would help feed her habit, the younger Williams sister said she no longer heads out on energy-sapping safaris along the boulevards of Paris, preferring instead to pile up the purchases from her hotel room. "Unfortunately I can't seem to stop shopping," said Williams, admitting she had bought everything from flowers to handbags. "Now that I won't go shopping outside, I stay inside to save energy, I've started shopping online. "It's gotten really bad, I don't know what to do anymore, I can't stop," she said. "I'm afraid I'm already a shopaholic. Fortunately I'm no longer in denial and the first step to recovering is getting out of denial." Playing her first competitive tennis since the Ericsson Open in March because of a knee injury, Williams had shown signs of rust in her opening two matches but was back to her dominating best against Gubacsi. After the Hungarian took Williams's opening serve, the former U.S. Open champion responded by sweeping the next six games. Her corn-rowed hair dyed pink to match her outfit, Williams relaxed slightly in the second set, allowing the 165th-ranked Gubacsi to hold her serve twice. "Under the circumstances, I think I'm definitely playing better," said Williams, whose only other appearance in the fourth round came in 1998 when she lost to eventual champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. "I have more confidence and just playing better overall. Not only am I moving better but I'm hitting better," she added. "Each match I'm playing, I'm getting better." Next up for the Williams will be Russian Nadia Petrova, who reached the last 16 by beating American Amy Frazier.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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