Venus Williams started her 20th French Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) win over China's Wang Qiang.
Williams, seeded 10 and three weeks shy of her 37th birthday, had to dig deep to see off her opponent who had led 4-2 in the first set and 5-3, with set points, in the second.
"It was very hot (temperatures around 30 degrees) but I live in Florida, so I was prepared," said Williams.
The American veteran, who made her Roland Garros debut in 1997 and was runner-up to sister Serena in Paris in 2002, will next face Japan's Kurumi Nara who beat 15-year-old Amanda Anisimova of the United States in three sets.
Olympic champion Monica Puig sent veteran Italian Roberta Vinci to her 10th first round loss in 13 visits, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Madison Brengle of the US defeated Germany's Julia Goerges 1-6, 6-3, 13-11 in a tie stretching to almost three hours.
Goerges went down blazing - she hit 79 winners but 90 unforced errors.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, the eighth-seeded 2009 champion, made the second round by seeing off Christina McHale of the United States 7-5, 6-4.
In the men's event, sixth seeded Dominic Thiem, the only man to beat Rafael Nadal on clay this year, made quick work of Australia's Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.
Bulgarian 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov coasted past France's Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to register his first win in Paris in four years.MEN'S FIRST ROUND RESULTSMarco Trungelliti (Argentina) beat Quentin Halys (France) 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-4
Guillermo García-López (Spain) beat Gilles Muller (Luxembourg x26) 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-2
Pablo Carreño-Busta (Spain x20) beat Florian Mayer (Germany) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Taro Daniel (Japan) beat Jerzy Janowicz (Poland) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Tommy Robredo (Spain) beat Daniel Evans (England) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria x11) beat Stéphane Robert (France) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) beat Tennys Sandgren (USA) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4
Robin Haase (Netherlands) beat Alex de Minaur (Australia) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
Dominic Thiem (Austria x6) beat Bernard Tomic (Australia) 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
Ivo Karlovic (Croatia x23) beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, 6-4
Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) beat Adrian Mannarino (France) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Lucas Pouille (France x16) beat Julien Benneteau (France) 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Thomaz Belluci (Brazil) beat Dusan Lajovic (Serbia) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4
Benjamin Bonzi (France) beat Daniil Medvedev (Russia) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 3-1 - Retired
Albert Ramos (Spain x19) beat Marius Copil (Romania) 6-7 (7/9), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2
WOMEN'S FIRST ROUND RESULTSEkaterina Makarova (Russia) beat Angelique Kerber (Germany x1) 6-2, 6-2
Lesya Tsurenko (Ukraine) beat Kateryna Kozlova (Ukraine) 6-4, 6-0
Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) beat Louisa Chirico (USA) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
Mónica Puig (Puerto Rico) beat Roberta Vinci (Italy x31) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) beat Evgeniya Rodina (Russia) 7-5, 6-2
Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic x15) beat Julia Boserup (USA) 6-3, 6-2
Océane Dodin (France) beat Camila Giorgi (Italy) 6-2, 6-3
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia x8) beat Christina McHale (USA) 7-5, 6-4
Çagla Büyükakçay (Turkey) beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia x22) 6-3, 6-3
Shelby Rogers (USA) beat Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4
Venus Williams (USA x10) beat Qiang Wang (China) 6-4, 7-6 (7/3)
Kurumi Nara (Japan) beat Amanda Anisimova (USA) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland x30) beat Sara Sorribes (Spain) 6-1, 6-2
Madison Brengle (USA) beat Julia Goerges (Germany) 1-6, 6-3, 13-11
Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia x6) beat Lara Arruabarrena (Spain) 6-2, 6-1
Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) beat Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Monday, May 12, 2025
