Thursday at Roland Garros saw 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams fight her way into the third round of the tournament after suffering a scare.
The 36-year-old, who is currently playing in only her third WTA event since giving birth, battled back from a set down to defeat 17th seed Ashleigh Barty. Williams will take on Germany’s Julia Goerges next in the tournament. Earlier in the day, both Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza progressed with straight set wins. Halep dropped only four games against Taylor Townsend and Muguruza overcame some stern resistance from France’s Fiona Ferro.
In the men’s draw, Rafael Nadal claimed his 83rd win at the tournament by brushing aside Argentina’s Guido Pella in a fraction over two hours. Booking a showdown with home favourite Richard Gasquet. On the other hand there was disappointment for Denis Shapovalov, who crashed out in four sets to Germany’s Maximilian Marterer.
Away from the courts, Fabio Fognini gave the ATP a headache when he openly criticised their ‘Next Generation’ campaign. Even though one of their vice-presidents were present.
