After winning the first match she's played since her US Open final defeat last September, Serena Williams admitted she's dreading another season of grueling workouts but still can't live without tennis. The 30-year-old Williams had her service broken in the opening game Monday before beating Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa 6-2, 6-3 at the Brisbane International. She needed just 68 minutes to advance, firing seven aces and taking advantage of eight double-faults by Scheepers. She was asked after the match whether her four-month layoff indicated she may have fallen out of love with tennis. “It's not that I've fallen out of love ... I've never really liked sports, I never understood how I became an athlete,” Williams said. “If it involves sitting down or shopping I am excellent at that. I don't love tennis today ... but I can't live without it so I am still here.” In other matches, top-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia beat Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-2, 6-3 and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-2. Former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic beat Tamira Paszek of Austria 6-3, 6-3 and American qualifier Vania King defeated Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-3, 6-4. Men's second seed Gilles Simon of France advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over American Ryan Sweeting on Monday. Denis Istoman of Uzbekistan also went through to the second round when Florian Mayer of Germany retired with a groin injury while trailing 7-6 (5), 2-3. Eighth-seeded Bernard Tomic of Australia beat Julien Benneteau of France 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Lisicki advances In Auckland, top-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat French wild-card entry Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-4 Monday in the first round of the ASB Classic. Former world No. 4 Jelena Dokic suffered a setback when she was beaten 7-6 (5), 6-1 by unseeded Mona Barthel, who faces compatriot Lisicki in the second round. In other matches, Flavia Pennetta of Italy beat Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 7-6 (5) and Sara Errani of Italy defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden 6-1, 6-1.
