Serena Williams of the U.S. walks to her bench after defeating Kristie Ahn of the U.S., left, in the first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Monday, Sept. 28
Serena Williams advanced to the second round of the French Open by beating Kristie Ahn 7-6 (2), 6-0.
The sixth-seeded Williams served for the match at 40-0 but Ahn saved three match points. An ace gave her a fourth opportunity to win but she hit a shot into the net.
Williams then saved a break point before finally beating her American opponent with an ace.
Ahn held leads of 3-1 and 4-2 in the first set.
The 39-year-old Williams is a three-time French Open champion and is looking to equal Margaret Court's record of 24 major titles. She will next face Bulgarian wild-card entry Tsvetana Pironkova.
Last year's runner-up Marketa Vondrousova lost in the first round of the French Open.
The 15th-seeded Czech player was beaten by Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-2.
Vondrousova was the third-lowest ranked player to reach the final last year when she did so at No. 38.
Swiatek reached the fourth round at Roland Garros last year. The 19-year-old Polish player will next face Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan.
Petra Kvitova reached to the second round of the French Open after a 6-3, 7-5 win over Oceane Dodin under the new roof on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The two-time Wimbledon champion advanced from the first round for the 10th time in 11 appearances at Roland Garros. The Czech player's only first-round loss was in 2010. She was a semifinalist in 2012. She is ranked 11th and seeded seventh at Roland Garros.
A forehand hit wide by 118th-ranked Dodin gave Kvitova a break of serve in the second set. The 23-year-old Frenchwoman was playing the 30-year-old Kvitova for the first time.
