Serena Williams Tops Julia Gorges in 3rd Round of 2018 French Open

Serena Williams set up an exciting fourth-round clash with Maria Sharapova at the 2018 French Open after beating 11th seed Julia Gorges on Saturday.

The American was rarely troubled as she put in an impressive performance to win 6-3, 6-4 and send the 11th seed out of the tournament.

Gorges won the toss but elected to receive against Serena, a decision that confused Ben Rothenberg at the New York Times:

Williams was quick to break and move into a 3-1 lead as she showed no signs of fatigue from her second-round win over Ashleigh Barty, which went to three sets.

Christopher Clarey at the New York Times felt Gorges was nervous:

Williams showed no mercy and went on to take the first set 6-3 in just 31 minutes. Rothenberg offered his view of her performance:

The second set looked to be following a familiar pattern as Williams broke early at 2-1. However, Gorges hit straight back to level the match up at 2-2 and give her opponent something to think about.

It was to prove a brief respite. Williams broke again to move 4-2 ahead and bring victory into sight. Freelance writer Tumaini Carayol explained one of the keys to her success:

Gorges simply had no response, although she did hold serve to force Williams to serve for the match at 5-4.

Williams duly delivered as she served out to love. The match was the best performance of her comeback so far, according to Clarey:

The win sets up a potential thriller against Sharapova, who saw off Karolina Plisokova in straight sets earlier on Saturday.