In cathedral silence, Serena Williams opened the night session at Roland Garros with a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory over Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu on Monday evening. Disputed behind closed doors, this first round almost turned sour for the American. While leading 5-2 in the first set, she lost track and found herself with her back to the wall at 5-6 Begu serve. Helped by the opposing feverishness, she stuck to the score but the worries did not stop.
In a festival of approximations, the 8th world again came close to the correctional tie-break and almost made lie the slogan inscribed on her shoes “I will never stop” … Led six points to four, she has dismissed the two set points with a bit of success (the net and a second serve on the line) and ended in a whirlwind on a nice climb out of time, punctuated by a howl of joy and relief.
With a break from the start of the second round, Serena Williams was able to live a more serene second round but she was not reassured about her physical form and her level of play on clay. In the second round, she continued her Romanian championship against Michaela Buzarnescu.
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