Serena Williams of the USA jumps for joy after the final shot from her opponent goes out in the opening round of the French Open on Tuesday. It was a tough struggle to get that win, with Williams seeing eight match points go down the drain and being broken several times while serving for the match. Finally, on the ninth match point, her opponent, little-known Klara Zakopalova, hit it out. Zakopalova, from the Czech Republic, is ranked only 100 in the world and has never made it past the 2nd round of a Grand Slam in the past five years. Final score: 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, and a big scare for Williams, who claims she is the real No 1 in the world, despite what the computers say. She’s going to have to play better than this to convince the tennis-world she is No. 1!
This win broke a 4-match losing streak for Williams, who has never lost an opening-round match in a Grand Slam event. William’s had been defeated in the final of the hard-court tournament in Miami, and then lost her three opening matches at clay-court events in Marbella, Rome, and Madrid. So this reaction was more than just the excitement of winning a match at the French Open. It was closer to, “Finally, I won one again.”
Williams’ next opponent will be 133rd ranked Virginia Ruano Pascual from Spain. Can Williams bring her A-game, or will she revert back to her losing-ways? The red clay courts of Paris hold the answer.
