Williams on her slow start at French Open

Serena Williams believes the key to levelling the all-time Grand Slam record of 24 titles is to play like Serena Williams.

The 39-year-old American made a slow but successful start to her latest pursuit of Margaret Court’s record with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-0 win over Kristie Ahn in the French Open first round on Monday.

World number 102 Ahn served for the opening set at 5-4 but Williams forced a tie-break she dominated before charging through the second set to book a clash with Tsvetana Pironkova for a spot in the last 32.

“The biggest difference was just confidence,” said three-time Roland Garros champion Williams when asked to explain the stark difference between the first and second sets.

“I just need to play with more confidence, like I’m Serena. So that was it. I just started playing like that.”