French Open 2021: Serena Williams' 3-Set Win Highlights Wednesday's Results
The second round of the 2021 French Open got underway Wednesday in Paris.
While she had already announced her withdrawal, Naomi Osaka's exit was made official as Ana Bogdan was awarded with a victory. Without Osaka in the draw, things have opened up a bit for Aryna Sabalenka and Serena Williams, and both took the court at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
On the men's side, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev were the top seeds in action.
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2021 French Open Results
Women's Singles
Ana Bogdan def. No. 2 Naomi Osaka (walkover)
No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka def. Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-5, 6-3
No. 7 Serena Williams def. Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 5-7, 6-1
Daria Kasatkina def. No. 10 Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-2
Elena Vesnina def. No. 11 Petra Kvitova (walkover)
No. 15 Victoria Azarenka def. Clara Tauson 7-5, 6-4
No. 20 Marketa Vondrousova def. Harmony Tan 6-1, 6-3
No. 21 Elena Rybakina def. Nao Hibino 6-3, 6-1
No. 23 Madison Keys def. Leylah Fernandez 6-1, 7-5
Katerina Siniakova def. No. 29 Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(7), 5-7, 7-5
No. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-3
No. 33 Paula Badosa def. Danka Kovinic 6-2, 6-2
Tamara Zidansek def. Madison Brengle 6-4, 6-1
Sorana Cirstea def. Martina Trevisan 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Polona Hercog def. Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-4
Danielle Collins def. Anhelina Kalinina 6-0, 6-2
Men's Singles
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 Alexander Zverev def. Roman Safiullin 7-6(4), 6-3, 7-6(1)
Henri Laaksonen def. No. 11 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta def. Enzo Couacaud 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
No. 15 Casper Ruud def. Kamil Majchrzak 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
No. 22 Cristian Garin def. Mackenzie McDonald 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3, 8-6
Kei Nishikori def. No. 23 Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 27 Fabio Fognini def. Marton Fucsovics 7-6(6), 6-1, 6-2
No. 31 John Isner def. Filip Krajinovic 7-6(6), 6-1, 7-6(5)
No. 32 Reilly Opelka def. Jaume Munar 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina def. Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4
Federico Delbonis def. Pablo Andujar 4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
Laslo Djere def. Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
Marcos Giron def. Guido Pella 7-6(2), 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4
Recap
Williams had her hands full with Mihaela Buzarnescu.
She struggled to open any breathing room on Buzarnescu in the opening set before breaking her serve to take a 5-3 lead and eventually claim the set.
Buzarnescu responded in the second with a break of her own to build a 4-2 lead, though Williams fought back to make it 4-3. Williams was serving for the tiebreak down 5-6 but committed two unforced errors and saw Buzarnescu hit a forehand winner on set point.
Williams was dialed in in the third set. She broke Buzarnescu in back-to-back service games and didn't look back.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion finished with five aces and won 75 percent of her points on first serve.
"I felt it was pretty good today," she said after the win. "But I've been practicing my serve a lot. I've been playing in practice unbelievable on my serve. The other night was, wow. I'm glad it came better today."
Elsewhere in the women's draw, Sabalenka took down Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets despite a sloppy showing.
The Australian Open champion had 27 winners but committed 34 unforced errors. She also committed five double-faults and won just seven of her 30 second-service points.
Sasnovich was unable to capitalize. Allowing 12 break-point opportunities in two sets is a recipe for disaster when attempting to upset the No. 4 player in the world.
Tenth-seeded Belinda Bencic was the highest seed to lose—excluding Osaka. The Swiss had no answer for the serve of Daria Kasatkina. Kasatkina had eight aces and went 32-of-40 on first serve.
The Russian explained how playing an early match may have benefited her.
The men's draw featured little in the way of surprises as Tsitsipas and Zverev both advanced in straight sets.
Zverev encountered from stiff resistance from Roman Safiullin, trailing 4-5 in each of the first and third sets before pulling through in a tiebreaker.
Tsitsipas had a more straightforward time with Pedro Martinez. The 22-year-old Greek looked to get to the net early and often, and the strategy paid off in spades. He went 26-of-27 on net points.
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