Sixth seed Serena Williams kept the family French Open title hopes alive battling past France's Sarah Pitkowski 6-2 6-7 6-1 yesterday advancing into the second round. With father Richard and sister Venus, who was knocked out in first round by Austria's Barbara Schett on Monday, watching from the stands the younger Williams appeared headed for an easy straight sets victory cruising through the opening set.
But the feisty Pitkowski made the former-U.S. Open champion earn her place in the second round taking a bitterly disputed second set in a tiebreak 7-4. The effort appeared to drain the 91st-ranked Frenchwoman who ended the match in frustration, angrily slamming her racket into the Suzanne Lenglen court's red clay. (Reuters)
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
