Organisers 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 agonisingly 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.
"Ironically enough night sessions are not my favourite matches,
but I do have a good record at it," Williams said of her first
taste of action under the Roland Garros lights.
"Clearly something about it gets me hyped. I have to say it was
pretty cool to be able to play the first night session ever here
at Roland Garros. That was something I thoroughly enjoyed."
Williams will face another Romanian in round two in the shape of
174th-ranked Mihaela Buzarnescu.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|