PARIS (Dispatches) -American Serena Williams has survived a scare in the first ever night session match at the French Open as she edged out Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6(6) 6-2 in the first round.
Organizers have introduced night matches under the Philippe Chatrier Court lights this year to provide some late drama for the fans but the match was played in an empty stadium because of a COVID-19 curfew in the French capital.
The flat atmosphere hardly helped the 39-year-old Williams who squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set against a tricky opponent who battled back to move into a tiebreaker.
Begu then led 6-4 and Williams got lucky with a return that clipped the tape, before rattling off four points to win the opener with a drive volley she celebrated with a roar that echoed around the empty stands.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Williams, who has been stuck on 23 Grand Slam titles, one behind Margaret Court’s all-time record, was far more assured in the second set and managed to claim the victory without further fuss.
Williams has been agonizingly close to matching Court’s record since winning the 2017 Australian Open in her last Grand Slam event before becoming a mother.
She has fallen in four Grand Slam finals and earlier this year lost in the semi-finals at the Australian Open.
Following that she underwent oral surgery and has played only three Tour-level matches since, winning one.
Despite her first set wobble against Begu, however, the seventh seed showed enough of her old firepower and fight to suggest that she can make a deep run in Paris.
Williams will face another Romanian in round two in the shape of 174th-ranked Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Naomi Osaka Quits
French Open

World number two Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the French Open after the controversy over her refusal to speak to the media at the tournament.
In a tweet announcing the move, Japan’s Osaka also said she had “suffered long bouts of depression” since winning her first Grand Slam title in 2018.
The 23-year-old said last week she would not do news conferences at Roland Garros to protect her mental health.
On Sunday, Osaka won her opening match against Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig in straight sets and was fined $15,000 for not doing post-match media.