In her first Grand Slam match in nearly 16 months, Serena Williams defeated Kristyna Pliskova, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday. Williams’s life has greatly changed since she last played on one of the game’s biggest stages, winning the 2017 Australian Open. Williams is now married and the mother of an infant daughter. Ranked No. 1 when she left the game, she arrived at Roland Garros as an unseeded player after playing only four singles matches on tour this season. Williams will face Ash Barty of Australia, the No. 17 seed, in the second round scheduled for Thursday.
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