26th May, 2013
Serena Williams avoided the first round flop that stunned her in Paris last year when she crushed Georgia’s Anna Tatishvili 6-0, 6-1 on the first day of the French Open on Sunday.
The American crashed out 12 months ago at Roland Garros to unfancied Virginie Razzano of France in a huge upset, the first time in her career she had lost in the first round of a Grand Slam event.
But there was never any chance of a repeat of that in cold, cloudy conditions on the Philippe Chatrier centre court this year as the top seed pummelled her way to a totally one-sided win in just 51 minutes.
It was a career-best 25th straight win in singles for Williams, who won four tournaments in a row going into Paris at Miami, Charleston, Madrid and Rome.
Seeking a 16th Grand Slam title, Williams next plays either Yuliya Beygeizimer of Ukraine or Caroline Garcia of France for a place in the third round.