French Open 2021: Error-prone Serena Williams prevails in first round

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Bengaluru, June 1: Serena Williams started her quest to match Margaret Court's Grand Slam record by seeing off Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round of the French Open.

Serena, who reached the semifinals in Melbourne earlier this year, has been stuck on 23 slam triumphs – one shy of Court's career haul – since winning the 2017 Australian Open.

But the seventh seed in Paris did just enough in a challenging opening outing on Monday, the first official night match in French Open history, overcoming Begu 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 in one hour and 44 minutes.

Begu proved a worthy match, winning four straight games and at one point holding two set points in the opener, but the world number eight's quality and experience ultimately came to the fore.

Having charged into a 5-3 lead, Serena found herself at 0-30 down when serving for the first set, and an overhit slice followed by another errant, awkward backhand gave Begu the break.

More unforced errors followed from Serena as her hopes of clinching the set with a return break were dashed, before the 39-year-old scooped long on her own serve to give Begu the advantage.

The American regained her composure to hit back, though, and force a tiebreak. Begu had two set points to play with at 6-4 up, but Serena rallied, winning the next four to take a hard-fought lead.

A superb drop shot teed Serena up for a break at the start of the second set, yet she tensed up again in game six.

Serena was applauding Begu for a supreme forehand down the line, but the former world number one was soon frustrated as the Romanian clawed back to deuce three times.

Begu's resolve finally crumbled, however, and Serena was left to serve out a win which sets up a second-round tie with Mihaela Buzarnescu.

DATA SLAM: Error-strewn Serena will have to sharpen up

By 3-3 in the tiebreaker, Serena had made 21 unforced errors, in contrast to just seven from Begu. Serena tightened up after nosing ahead, making just nine more in the remainder of the contest, but she will know such issues cannot continue if there is to be a chance of reigning again in the French capital this year.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS Williams – 27/30 Begu – 18/17

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS Williams – 5/2 Begu – 2/3

BREAK POINTS WON Williams – 5/8 Begu – 3/5

(With OPTA inputs)