PERTH, Australia — Feeling lethargic and jetlagged, Serena Williams decided a coffee might perk her up after losing her first set 6-0 at the Hopman Cup.
It did the trick.
Williams recovered to beat Flavia Pennetta 0-6, 6-3, 6-0 on a sweltering day in Perth, John Isner followed up with a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over Fabio Fognini and the American pair combined to win the doubles for a 3-0 win over Italy in Group A on Monday in the international mixed team competition.
Williams later joked it was “miracle coffee.”
The top-ranked Williams laughed loudly as she checked with the chair umpire and then with the tournament referee about the coffee before a ball girl served her the brew on court.
“I was just feeling it, so I just had to get some coffee into me,” Williams said. “I just asked them to get me a shot of espresso — I asked them if it was legal, because I’ve never done it before. I needed to wake up.”
Williams, the 18-time major winner, said the round-robin nature of the Hopman Cup took some pressure off her ahead of the Australian Open later this month, and she was also heeding some advice from her father, Richard.
“My dad says, ‘Serena, you’ve done everything, enjoy yourself, I promise you’ll play better,'” Williams was quoted as saying after the match. “So I’m like, ‘OK’. I’m trying to relax a bit more and play how I know I can play.”
The roof was closed to cool the venue in Perth, where temperatures topped 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, the city’s hottest day since 1991.