After difficult opening set, Williams goes past Pliskova in straight sets; Sharapova, Muguruza advance
Serena Williams made a winning return to Grand Slam tennis which was as memorable as her body-hugging black catsuit when she reached the Roland Garros second round on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old downed Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to register her first victory at the majors since her 2017 Australian Open triumph.
"I missed Roland Garros so much, I missed the battle," Williams, the 2002, 2013 and 2015 champion in Paris, said after playing her first clay court match since finishing runner-up to Garbine Muguruza in the 2016 final on the same Philippe Chatrier Court.
"I couldn't play last year. I had a baby but I am so happy to be back."
"It's been two years since I played here. It wasn't easy but I have been training really hard. I feel good and just so happy to be back here." Williams, the winner of an Open era record 23 Grand Slam titles, had arrived at Roland Garros with just four matches under her belt in 2018.
The last time she had been spotted on a court was in a first-round loss to Naomi Osaka in Miami in March.
Having been off the tour to give birth to daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian in September, many in the sport wondered if Williams would still be a contender at the majors especially with her ranking at 451.
However, she gave a stinging response to the doubters on Tuesday even if her win over the 70th-ranked Pliskova tested the American.
Arriving on Philippe Chatrier Court in a black catsuit, offset with a pinkish-red waistband, Williams saved a break point in the 12th game to send the opener into a tiebreak.
Williams then trailed 0/3 before eventually taking the set when Pliskova, who had never won a match at the tournament in three previous visits, put a forehand wide.
The three-time champion fell 0-2 behind in the second set and was forced to retrieve another break to level at 4-4.
As she served for the match, she slipped into the net, righting herself sporting an embarrassed smile.
She saved three break points in an eight-minute-plus 10th game before taking victory, setting up a second-round clash with Australia's Ashleigh Barty.
Earlier, Two-time French Open champion Maria Sharapova of Russia has been pushed to three sets in her return to the Paris Grand Slam following a two-year absence.
Sharapova was given a tough challenge by Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp but eventually prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.
It was Sharapova's first win at the French Open since 2015 after she served a drug ban in 2016 and was not granted a wild card last year.
Sharapova led 6-1, 4-3 but lost the next six games as Hogenkamp led 3-0 in the decider. Sharapova managed to turn things around and Hogenkamp angrily tossed her racket at the red clay after Sharapova resisted pressure on her serve in the sixth game, saving two break points.
Also, two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza is back to winning ways at the French Open after beating Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova, another former Roland Garros champion. Muguruza, who claimed the title in Paris two years ago, advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (0), 6-2 win.
After beating Serena Williams in the 2016 final, Muguruza's title defense was ended in the fourth round last year.
Now ranked 43rd, the 32-year-old Kuznetsova was making her 16th consecutive appearance in the main draw in Paris, where she won the title in 2009.
In men singles, Third-seeded Marin Cilic has kicked off his Roland Garros campaign with a straight-set win over James Duckworth of Australia.
Cilic, a former US Open champion who reached two of the past three Grand Slam finals, was not bothered by the rain that stopped play for about an hour and won 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Duckworth, who missed the French Open last year because of foot surgery, has never won a match at the clay-court event in four appearances.
Also, Canadian teen Denis Shapovalov's first Grand Slam match as a seeded player went about as smoothly as could be - a straight-set victory at the French Open.
The 19-year-old lefty, who is seeded 24th for his Roland Garros main-draw debut, needed just 2 hours to get past 59th-ranked John Millman of Australia 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.
Next for Shapovalov is a matchup against 70th-ranked Maximilian Marterer of Germany, a 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 winner against Ryan Harrison of the US.
Yuki out, Bopanna advances
Yuki Bhambri's maiden appearance at the French Open ended with a first round defeat even as Rohan Bopanna began his men's doubles campaign with an easy win along with French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin, here on Tuesday.
Yuki lost his opening men's singles match 4-6, 4-6, 1-6 to Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets. It was second clash between Yuki, ranked 93, and the Belgian, who is placed 110 on the ranking chart.
Yuki had got the better of Bemelmans at the ATP Delhi Open semifinals in 2015.
With his defeat India's challenge ended in the men's singles.
Bopanna, who won his maiden Grand Slam title here last year in mixed doubles with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski, and Roger-Vasselin, seeded 13th, knocked out the American team of Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-1 in just 63 minutes.