French Open: Serena overcomes slow start to advance

AMERICAN superstar Serena Williams, seeded sixth for the tournament, had to overcome a sluggish start to defeat fellow American Kristie Ahn 7-6, 6-0 to open her campaign in the French Open on Monday.

Against an opponent she defeated at the same stage in the U.S. Open weeks ago, Williams fell behind twice in the opening set on the Court Philippe Chatrier but rallied back to force a tiebreaker.

The 39-year-old Serena, who is seeking to become the most successful tennis player in history having already won a staggering 23 Grand Slam singles titles, powered on after the tiebreaker and did not look back, handing the 102nd-ranked Ahn a bagel (6-0) in the second set.

The three-time French Open winner had to dig deep to find a way to win in the chilly and windy conditions.

She cruised through the second set to seal victory and set up a second round clash against  Tsvetana Pironkova, who earlier beat Andrea Petkovic 6-3 6-3.

Serena, who clocked 39 on Saturday, has won the most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era, but she is second in all-time wins behind Margaret Court, who has won 24 Grand Slam titles.