Serena Williams wasted little time in her fourth round match of the French Open against Elina Svitolina, dispatching of the Ukrainian 6-1 6-1 in little over an hour. The world number one finally got her match underway after much delay due the rain and it seemed the world number one was aware of the potentially packed schedule ahead.
Racing ahead 4-0, the precedent was set for the match and it was clear there was going to be very little stopping the 21 time Grand Slam champion. Closing out the set 6-1 there appeared to be no way back for Svitolina, who had enjoyed a very successful run to the fourth round with wins against Ana Ivanovic and Kristina Mladenovic.
More of the same for second set
The 21 year old could not have a worse start to the second set as she was broken in the first game by Williams, 13 years her senior. The story was much like the first set as Williams coasted ahead before serving out the match at 5-1 on her first match point. The world number one moves onto the quarter finals where she will face the winner of Yulia Putintseva who defeated Carla Suarez-Navarro. The defending champion has now not dropped a set in her last nine matches and will have he eyes on winning a fourth French Open trophy to move level with Steffi Graf on 22 Grand Slams.
Venus makes her exit to Bacsinszky
Meanwhile, her sister Venus Williams did not enjoy the same success as he younger sister as she bowed out in straight sets to eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky. After reaching the semi-finals last year, Bacsinszky did not have the ideal start, dropping down to 2-0 quickly against Williams. However, the Swiss fought back to take the next six games to win the first set 6-2. Bacsinszky took another step to the quarter finals, breaking Williams in the first game of the second set before handing the break back a few games later. However, not one to be demotivated, Bacsinszky broke back before closing out the match on serve to move into the quarter finals where she will meet Kiki Bertens.