Pedal-pusher Serena cruises

World No 1 Serena Williams was rolling on Saturday, even before she got to her third-round match against Ayumi Morita at the Miami ATP Masters and WTA tournament.

Serena Williams returns to Ayumi Morita. Pic/AFP

The American, seeking a record sixth Miami WTA crown, resorted to some unfamiliar transportation - a bicycle - to beat the traffic into Key Biscayne and make her match.

"The traffic was crazy and everyone was like, I have been here for an hour and I'm staying eight minutes away," Williams said after her 6-3, 6-3 win.

"They were in the traffic for an hour. I'm like, ‘OK, I'm not going to make my match if I don't get there,'" she added.

She asked hotel staff for a golf cart, but since they didn't have one, she had to make do with a bicycle. "It was probably one of my best memories ever I think, riding a bike to a match. That's pretty cool," said Williams.

Maybe the unfamiliar exercise accounted for her slow start against Japan's Morita, who broke Williams in the second game en route to a 3-0 lead.

Williams was back on track soon enough, winning seven straight games to take the first set 6-3 and hold her serve in the opening game of the second. She gained the only advantage she needed with a break for 4-2 in the second. Serving for the match at 5-3, she gave herself a match point with her seventh ace and polished it off with a service winner. - AFP

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