Williams, 39, willed herself to a 6-4, 6-4 victory despite trailing 1-4 in the second set. She rattled off five straight games to close it out, winning the match with an emphatic ace up the T.
Serena Williams overcame a slow start in the second set to beat fellow American Danielle Collins and advance to the fourth round of the French Open.
Williams, 39, willed herself to a 6-4, 6-4 victory despite trailing 1-4 in the second set. She rattled off five straight games to close it out, winning the match with an emphatic ace up the T.
“That’s the joy of being Serena, I always have to be at my A game or else I won’t be able to take it so I always need to play good,” she told Jon Wertheim of Tennis Channel.
The No. 7 seed and 23-time Grand Slam champion remains alive for her record-tying 24th major title and appears to be getting some help in her half of the draw. No. 2 seed Naomi Osaka withdrew earlier this week after being fined $15,000 for refusing to meet with the media, while No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka lost in straight sets Friday to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
World No. 1 Ash Barty is out of the top half of the draw after retiring Thursday with a hip injury.
Only two of the top 20 women in the world remain in the bottom half of the draw: Serena and No. 15 seed Victoria Azarenka. Williams, the highest-ranked player in her half, will next face No. 22 Elena Rybakina and then could possibly face Azarenka in the quarterfinals.