Serena Williams Tops Mihaela Buzarnescu, Advances to 2021 French Open 3rd Round

Serena Williams survived an upset bid from Mihaela Buzarnescu to reach the third round of the 2021 French Open at Stade Roland Garros in Paris.

Williams, a three-time French Open singles champion, advanced in three sets (6-3, 5-7, 6-1). The 39-year-old won 75 percent of points on her first serve (39 of 52) with five aces, and she held a slight edge in winners (26-25) in Wednesday's second-round match.

The tournament's No. 7 seed moves on to face fellow American Danielle Collins in Round 3.

Williams' outlook for the season's second major was a bit unsettled when she arrived in Paris. She'd only appeared in two WTA Tour events since reaching the Australian Open semifinals in February, and she lost two of her three matches in those clay-court tuneups.

The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion knocked off Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round, but it wasn't a total breeze as she required a first-set tiebreaker before easing to the finish line in the second set.

It was more of the same Wednesday. Williams appeared in control early on, but a break by the Romanian midway through the second set created some unexpected tension. She got the break back, only to drop her final service game of the set.

Although Williams, who last captured the French Open title in 2015, recovered to win the third set, she hasn't looked anywhere close to top form in the major's initial stages.

"I've had enough rest in the past 16 months, so I should be totally ready to go for it," she told reporters after the first round about the busy schedule that starts with the stop at Roland Garros.

Williams still has flashes of her previous brilliance—her serve was downright dominant at times throughout the win over Buzarnescu—but being able to maintain that level over the course of an entire match has been more difficult since her return to action in mid-May.

She'll look to find a little more consistency starting Friday against Collins. Williams won their only previous WTA Tour meeting in the quarterfinals of the Yarra Valley Classic in February, but the 27-year-old Florida native is coming off a win over Anhelina Kalinina in which she dropped just two games.

Williams' half of the draw is wide-open for her to make a deep run if she can find peak form.