It may be her 71st appearance in the main draw of a grand slam event, but Serena Williams is not immune from nerves as she struggled through her opening match at the French Open.
The former world No.1 was at times nowhere near the level which has gotten her 23 major titles, but still managed to find a way to edge out Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. The mixed displayed featured 25 winners, which was almost cancelled out by her unforced error count of 24. Despite her poor start, Williams managed to find a rhythm in her game to seal victory and her 800th win on the tour.
“It was weird. I have been dealing with a lot, and then I just got nervous out there and I stopped moving my feet.” Williams said afterwards.
“It was, like, concrete blocks on my feet. I was, like, ‘You gotta do something’. But compared to other matches, I’m always a little nervous in Grand Slams, especially in the first round.”
Roland Garros is only Williams’ fifth tournament of 2019 and second since March. There has been questions raised about her current fitness. Earlier this month she withdrew from the Italian Open with a knee injury after winning her first match. Then she was pictured at Disneyland in a wheelchair in a photo that baffled many.
Nevertheless, Williams has insisted that she is back to good health. Hoping to avoid a repeat of last year where she was forced to quit the French Open due to a pectoral injury after reaching the fourth round.
“Physically, I felt pretty good.” She said.
“I’ve had a lot of injuries. I’m usually not an injured player. But I sprained my ankle in Australia and everything went downhill from there. I think I’m finally on the mend. But, it’s been a really interesting year for me thus far.”
Besides her health, there are also concerns about Williams’ lack of play. Her clash with Diatchenko was only her 10th of the season. Not that the 37-year-old is too concerned by it,
“I have enough tennis in me. I have 30-something years’ worth of tennis, so I’ll be fine.” She stated.
Last year, Williams made headlines where she took to the court wearing a jumpsuit, which was later criticised by the head of the French Tennis Federation. This time round she has made another bold fashion statement with a zebra-striped outfit. The clothing is decorated with the words ‘mother, champion, queen, goddess’ in French. The outfit was designed by Virgil Abloh, who was named in Time’s 100 most influential people in the world back in 2018.
“Virgil Abloh designed it, so I was really excited because he is like the hottest designer right now, and he’s amazing.” Williams told The Tennis Channel.
“This is the second time we have worked together. It (the outfit) has words about me in French, which talks about me being a mom, a queen, as all us Women are, and a champion. It is all just positive reinforcement for me and I kinda love that.”
Williams is only the fifth player in history to achieve 800 wins on the WTA Tour.
