23-Time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams moved into the second round of the French Open 2020 after finishing strong against American Kristie Ahn. The great American will again try to match Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles as she seeks her first Grand Slam since the Australian Open in 2017.
The sixth-seed is coming off a semi-final appearance at the US Open where she lost a 3-set epic against eventual runner-up Victoria Azarenka. After the US Open, she decided to skip the Rome masters, citing a leg injury.
Now fit, Serena will try to ensure that she improves on her US Open result. The American legend is seeking a 4th French Open title after earlier success in 2002, 2013, and 2015.
Match Breakdown
The match was expected to be a straight forward win for the 23 time Grand Slam champion. However, it was anything but straight forward. The other American was the one who started strong. Ahn broke the Serena serve initially to go up 4-3 in the first set.
In a roller-coaster eighth game going over 10 minutes, Serena broke back to make it 4-4. However, the underdog American was not to be denied. She broke again and served for the set at 5-4. However, once again Serena proved her credentials with a clutch break back to make it 5-5.
The set went to a tiebreaker which the 3-time French Open champion dominated and won by 7-2 to get the initial lead.
The second set just came and went for the underdog. Ahn was unable to register a game in the second set as Serena cruised through the second set and won the match 7-6 6-0.
The veteran American broke serve 5 times in the match out of 14 break point chances and hit 11 aces. She next plays Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round.