French Open: My season on clay has been pretty stingy so far, happy to get some wins, says Serena

Tennis star Serena Williams feels this clay-court season has been 'stingy' so far for her and she is happy to get some wins at the ongoing French Open. Williams defeated Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-4 to qualify for the fourth round of the Roland Garros 2021.

In the press conference, Serena said: "My season on clay has been pretty stingy so far, I'm happy to get some wins. The atmosphere at Roland Garros in general always seems quite different, and I think this diversity helps me to play better."

"I knew going into the third, I just had to zero in on those important points. If I could just take those, it would be an easier time for me."

Talking about her opponent, Danielle Collins, she added: "I played her in Australia, actually. She plays well, especially when it's time to play, which is I guess all the time. She's also a really awesome person off the court."

"I love seeing her in the locker room. Ideally, it would be great if we didn't have to play each other because I always want her to do super well," Williams said.

Serena who is chasing her long-awaited and record-equalling 24th Slam will be appearing for the thirteen-time in the fourth round on the clay courts of Bois de Boulogne.

Collins said: "It's been really kind of shocking since surgery, I've just felt so much better, especially with my back pain. Like I'm not having any type of sciatic nerve pain, which I was dealing with for a couple of years.

"So now I'm just kind of relieved to just be feeling good consistently and not having to always track and be like: Oh, like is this going to be a bad week, do I have to kind of prepare my training around that or my tournaments around that?' It's just been a real weight that's been lifted off my shoulders since having the surgery because I kind of just in some ways got used to [the pain] and kind of thought that that was normal to be dealing with."

Serena will clash with Elena Rybakina for the place in the quarterfinals. Rybakina defeated Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-4 to set her clash with the American in the fourth round.

( With inputs from ANI )

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