Serena Williams continued her winning ways at night by taking her first-round match.
When Roland Garros added night sessions to its schedule for the first time this year, the French Open organizers knew they would need a star for the opening night. Step forward, Serena Williams. Though there were no fans allowed inside the Court Philippe Chatrier stadium Monday night, due to the 9 p.m. Paris curfew aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19, Williams lit up a warm early summer’s evening with a 7-6 (6),6-2 win over Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania, the world No.74. «I have to say it was pretty cool to be able to play the first night session ever here at Roland Garros,» she said afterward. «That was something I thoroughly enjoyed.» The 23-time Grand Slam champion had to work for it, saving two set points in the first-set tiebreak, but she pulled away in the second to reach the second round. Initially, there were rumors that the French Tennis Federation had planned to fill the 10 night sessions with a men’s match each night, though that was denied by Roland Garros tournament director Guy Forget. Forget told ESPN on Monday that Williams was the perfect fit to showcase the new time slot. «When we made the program, several options were available to us,» Forget said. «This one seemed to us symbolically the strongest and most interesting to initiate this first evening session. We are happy to welcome Serena for this historic occasion.» Watching Williams win at night is nothing new. According to the USTA, at the US Open — where she is a six-time champion and has won a record 106 matches — Williams has played 53 official night matches and won 44 of them.
