Serena Williams powered ruthlessly into the fourth round of the French Open with a solid performance against fellow American Danielle Collins as the women’s singles draw opened up convincedly for the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
Serena Williams is now the highest-ranked player left in the bottom half of the women’s singles draw after defeating Danielle Collins.
Serena Williams was close to her best as she swatted aside the threat of fellow American Danielle Collins to reach the fourth round of the French Open.
Williams, chasing a fourth Roland Garros title and record-equalling 24th Grand Slam, staged a second-set recovery to beat Collins 6-4 6-4.
The 39-year-old is playing herself into the form on the clay, with her serve noticeably better than in her first two matches.
The only wobble came early in the second set when Williams lost four games in a row but, after propelling her feet to move again, she reeled off five straight games to secure victory.
Williams will take on Elena Rybakina, the 21st seed, next after she concluded Elena Vesnina’s comeback Grand Slam with a 6-1 6-4 victory. Vesnina was playing her first major since giving birth to her daughter in 2018.
Williams will not get ahead of herself, saying: “There are still many matches, a lot of skilled players, as we can see. There’s so much depth in this game now, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing in the first round or not, you really have to fight for every match and nothing comes easy.
“I just wanted a win. I wanted to win hard matches. I wanted to win sets. I wanted to win being down. I wanted to find myself, know who I am. Noone else is Serena out here. It’s me. It’s really cool.”
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