Serena Williams beats Vitalia Diatchenko in opening match at French Open
Serena Williams defeated Vitalia Diatchenko, who is 83rd-ranked by the Women's Tennis Association, at her opening match at Roland Garros of the French Open on Monday. The 37-year-old had a rough start to the first round of the Grand tournament when Diatchenko took the first set (6-2), but Williams took over the rest of the game with (6-1), (6-0) leading to her win.
At last year's Grand Slam competition, Williams had to pull out before the fourth round because of an injury. She then went on to become the runner-up at both Wimbledon and U.S. Open following the injury, according to The Associated Press. For this year's tournament, she will continue her pursuit for a 24th Grand Slam title because of her win against Diatchenko.
Not shy from making a fashion statement, Williams arrived at the French Open in a designer look — a collaboration between Nike and designer Virgil Abloh. In 2018, Williams showed up to the French Open in a black catsuit, for health reasons, which has since been banned from the tournament because it doesn't adhere to the dress code.
"Let the Roland Garros begin," she wrote in an Instagram post as she posed with Abloh. Williams appeared on the court with the designer jacket, which was covered with the words "champion," "queen," "goddess" and "mother" in French.
"Those are things that mean a lot to me and reminders for me — and for everyone that wants to wear it," Williams explained. "Just remind everyone that they can be champions and are queens," The Associated Press noted.
