SERENA TURNS `VICIOUS' : YOUTH IS SERVED IN 38-MINUTE ROUT.

Byline: Joe Stevens Long Beach Press-Telegram 

An hour before her match Tuesday, Serena Williams warmed up at center court and put on a show that brought more style and youth to Manhattan Country Club than the place is accustomed to.

Selections from Janet Jackson's ``The Velvet Rope'' pumped through the stadium as Katrina Adams, playing doubles in the tournament, hit balls to her. Venus Williams, sidelined with tendinitis in her left knee, shagged balls while wearing jeans and skateboarding sneakers.

The hip display is typical for Serena Williams. But if you'd ask her, she'd want you to call her Serena - Miss Williams, if you're nasty.

Williams' play was quite nasty to Latvia's Larisa Neiland in the first round of the Acura Classic at Manhattan Country Club. She beat Neiland 6-0, 6-0. The warm-ups would have been more entertaining for fans looking for a close match.

How nasty was Williams? She won the match in 38 minutes. She dominated Neiland to the point where she once aced her on her second serve. The first set lasted just 18 minutes. Williams slammed a ball that landed in the fifth row of the stands on one bounce and finished the match fittingly, with an ace.

Nasty, however, is not the specific word Williams likes to use. ``I'd say I was very tenacious and aggressive today,'' she said. ``I was vicious.''

And this was Williams' first match since Wimbledon in June. She took time off to go to summer school and make sure she could graduate from high school. Originally from Compton, Williams returned to Los Angeles because she remembers the tournament when she was growing up.

``I was pretty excited,'' she said. ``I wanted to play L.A. so bad that I wanted to get out there yesterday.''

The match between Williams, 16, and Neiland, 32, pitted the youngest player at Manhattan Beach against the oldest. Youth won with ease to make Williams one of 17 players left in the tournament.

Every first-round match has been completed, except for Mary Pierce against Yayuk Basuki. Pierce advanced to the final of last week's Toshiba Classic at La Costa. At Manhattan Beach, the top four seeds - Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Monica Seles - have yet to play, receiving first-round byes.

Williams will face seventh-seeded Sandrine Testud in the second round. If she pulls an upset, she will face Hingis, if the top-ranked player also wins her second-round match. But Williams is focusing on Testud.

Williams started on the women's tour in October. She finished the year ranked 99th and now is ranked 21st. To an extent, she has been living in the shadow of her 18-year-old sister, Venus, who is ranked fourth. But many tennis experts say Serena has more potential than Venus. Serena is said to be stronger and have a more aggressive game. Some say she simply hits the ball more crisply.

But such a quick victory over Neiland is unique for Williams because she did not play junior tennis like her sister, who was accustomed to fast wins on that circuit. The younger Williams jumped right to the Corel WTA tour.

However, Serena has made jumps in the tour's rankings more quickly than her sister. But even with the constant comparisons, the sisters' rivalry is friendly. They remain close and are doubles partners.

``I think we're both at the point where we'd each say we're better,'' Serena Williams said. ``I personally believe that I am the best player, but everyone has an opinion on that.''

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Photo

PHOTO Larisa Neiland, from Latvia, hits a forehand during her 6-0, 6-0 loss to Serena Williams in the first round of the Acura Classic on Tuesday.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press