Serena Williams made a triumphant Grand Slam return on Tuesday and advanced to the second round of the 2018 French Open, beating Kristyna Pliskova 7-6 (4), 6-4 in her comeback from a 16-month pregnancy absence.
Rafael Nadal moved on in his title defence at Roland Garros, battling past Simone Bolelli to clinch a second-round spot. Nadal emerged a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9) victor as the Italian put up a stubborn fight.
Third seed Marin Cilic was among a group of big names who progressed to the second round after he beat James Duckworth in straight sets. No. 9 John Isner also failed to drop a set but was pushed hard in his victory over American countryman Noah Rubin, edging the 22-year-old 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7).
Meanwhile, Juan Martin del Potro came back from a set down to beat Nicolas Mahut and head into the next round, while Feliciano Lopez (28th seed) and Adrian Mannarino (25th) fell to Sergiy Stakhovsky and Steve Johnson, respectively.
Maria Sharapova made her return to Roland Garros after three years away due to her drug suspension, reopening her French Open account with a tough 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Richel Hogenkamp.
Sharapova is 28th in the women's seeds and will face Donna Vekic in the next round, while Garbine Muguruza (third seed) and Carolina Garcia (seventh) also advanced to the second stage. Angelique Kerber also made her French Open return and blazed past Mona Barthel in straight sets.
Read on for more discussion of Tuesday's first-round results from the French Open and highlights of the latest action at Roland Garros.
Tuesday's Results
Men's Singles
(1) Rafael Nadal def. Simone Bolelli: 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9)
Pablo Cuevas def. Aljaz Bedene: 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
(3) Marin Cilic def. James Duckworth: 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (4)
Jan-Lennard Struff def. Evgeny Donskoy: 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
Maximilian Marterer def. Ryan Harrison: 6-1, 6-3, 7-5
Hubert Hurkacz def. Tennys Sandgren: 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
(24) Denis Shapovalov def. John Millman: 7-5, 6-4, 6-2
(6) Kevin Anderson def. Paolo Lorenzi: 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Thomas Fabbiano def. Matthew Ebden: 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
(9) John Isner def. Noah Rubin: 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (7)
Marton Fucsovics def. Vasek Pospisil: 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (5)
(18) Fabio Fognini def. Pablo Andujar: 6-4, 6-2, 6-1
Horacio Zeballos def. Yuichi Sugita: 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
(16) Kyle Edmund def. Alex de Minaur: 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
Guido Pella def. Joao Sousa: 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Ruben Bemelmans def. Yuki Bhambri: 6-4, 6-4, 6-1
Steve Johnson def. (25) Adrian Mannarino: 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-2
Mischa Zverev def. Florian Mayer: 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (3)
Elias Ymer def. Dudi Sela: 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-1
(5) Juan Martin del Potro def. Nicolas Mahut: 1-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Sergiy Stakhovsky def. (28) Feliciano Lopez: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
Women's Singles
Serena Williams def. Kristyna Pliskova: 7-6 (4), 6-4
Fiona Ferro def. Carina Witthoeft: 6-4, 6-2
Bethanie Mattek-Sands def. Johanna Larsson: 6-4, 6-3
(3) Garbine Muguruza def. Svetlana Kuznetsova: 7-6 (0), 6-2
Samantha Stosur def. Yanina Wickmayer: 6-2, 6-4
(24) Daria Gavrilova def. Sorana Cirstea: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3
Irina-Camelia Begu def. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 6-4, 5-7, 9-7
(27) Shuai Zhang def. Kristina Kucova: 6-0, 7-5
(28) Maria Sharapova def. Richel Hogenkamp: 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
(16) Elise Mertens def. Varvara Lepchenko: 6-7 (9), 7-6 (4), 6-0
Alison van Uytvanck def. Isabelle Wallace: 6-1, 6-0
Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Denisa Allertova: 6-4, 6-3
(18) Kiki Bertens def. Aryna Sabalenka: 6-2, 6-1
(7) Caroline Garcia def. Yingying Duan: 6-1, 6-0
(17) Ashleigh Barty def. Natalia Vikhlyantseva: 6-3, 6-1
(30) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Polona Hercog: 6-4, 7-6 (1)
Taylor Townsend def. Myrtille Georges: 6-4, 6-2
(11) Julia Gorges def. Dominika Cibulkova: 6-4, 5-7, 6-0
Shuai Peng def. Aleksandra Krunic: 6-3, 6-4
(12) Angelique Kerber def. Mona Barthel: 6-2, 6-3
Ana Bogdan def. Marketa Vondrousova: 6-3, 1-6, 6-4
Visit the Roland Garros website for the results in full.
Recap
In her first major appearance since winning the 2017 Australian Open, Williams was effective, if not efficient, in her 7-6 (4), 6-4 beating of Pliskova. She said after the display she's happy to take her return slowly, per BBC Sport.
"It's been two years since I played on clay," Williams said. "It's been a really long time, but I trained really hard on the clay. I feel good. I'm just happy to have won a match here. I'm just taking it a day at a time."
The birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., last year meant a temporary hiatus on the three-time French Open winner's tennis career, but her first major match in almost 18 months posed positive omens:Adjusting to the sleepless nights, the two-hourly night feeds, the demands of a crying baby and an aching body that has endured childbirth is something Serena Williams has in common with every mother around the world. But what every mother around the world does not have in common with Williams is trying to juggle all those demands while attempting to get back into tip-top shape in order to win Grand Slam titles.
Just eight months after she “almost died” giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia, the American was back to one of her favourite hunting grounds and swinging her racket at the French Open – albeit as a multi-tasking mother. “My priority is Olympia. No matter what, that’s my priority,” Williams said after her 7-6(4) 6-4 first round win over Kristyna Pliskova.
“I have given tennis so much and tennis has actually given me a lot, and I couldn’t be more grateful. “But she’s my priority, and I work everything around her. I want her to know that I put her first in my life.
“I feel like everything else will fall into place. I feel like it’s all going to work out.” Getting everything to work out is no easy feat for someone in Williams’ position and it is the reason why in the past 38 years Belgian Kim Clijsters is the only mother to win Grand Slam titles – three of her four majors – after a maternity break.
Over that same period a dozen fathers have triumphed at the slams, winning 24 titles between them. But having been bedridden for six weeks after suffering a series of complications, including a pulmonary embolism that led to multiple surgeries, Williams is only too aware of what she had to overcome to get herself ready for Paris.
CORE CHALLENGE
So how much more difficult is it for a mother than a father to play top level tennis? “Well, first and foremost, you have to get your core back, which is hard, because it literally spreads when you have a baby,” said the 36-year-old, who is bidding to win a 24th major trophy to draw level with Margaret Court’s all-time record.
“And just coming back from the physical (challenges) of having a baby, at my age is never really easy. “Emotionally it’s different because I’m so emotionally attached to my daughter. Dads are too, but I actually breast fed for a really, really, really long time, and so I just had this real connection with my daughter. So there are definitely some differences.”
Despite her new responsibilities, Williams has not abandoned the disciplined lifestyle she had led before. She has simply redesigned it so that it fits in around her daughter’s routine. “I’m really fortunate enough that I can plan my days and I can plan my career,” said Williams, who appeared to symbolise her life as a ‘Super-mom’ in the skin-tight, black catsuit she chose to wear for Tuesday’s match.
“So I plan my day, like, training is X of time. Then I spend all this time with Olympia. And then if I need to train again, I have X time in training because of her nap schedules. “In the beginning it was difficult to learn her nap schedules… because I don’t want her to ever feel like I’m not around. I’m a super hands-on mom. Maybe too much.”
