It's been a while coming, but Serena Williams will hope she can finally get on court and get stuck in in her fourth round matchup against Elena Svitolina at the French Open on Wednesday. With rain wreaking havoc at Roland Garros, Serena has had to wait for a while to get her Round 4 match up and running, and the American's strategy will be to keep it as short and sweet as possible.
Serena, after a couple of easy outings in the first two rounds, was made to work hard for her victory by Frenchman Kristina Mladenovic, with rain interruptions, yet again, causing problems for the players. The American eventually prevailed 6-4, 7-6 (12-10), but it was far from an easy match, and a point here or there could have drastically altered the outcome of the result.
"I think she played well," Serena was quoted as saying by the official Roland Garros website. "I feel like I made a tremendous amount of errors. But, you know, I feel like she kind of forced me to. She forced me to go for it, and unfortunately, I wasn't hitting great."
Just before the second set tie-break, the two players were forced off by bad weather, with that delay lasting for over two-and-a-half hours. Serena's coach Patrick Mouratoglou had a long talk with his player, longer than he usually does, in a bid to try and get her playing her best tennis.
It seemed to work, as Serena showed a bit more of that fighting spirit she is famous for to see off Mladenovic's challenge in the tie-breaker.
"Up until that point, I had not been playing my game," Serena was quoted as saying by ABC. "I was playing really defensive. It's not me. So I just wanted to be Serena out there."
If the world number goes out and is "Serena out there" in this fourth round matchup against Svitolina, then there will be only one winner, even after considering the fact that the No.18 seed has not dropped a set so far on her way to round number four.
Where to Watch Live
Serena Williams vs Elina Svitolina is the first match on the Philippe Chatrier Court, with the start time scheduled for 11 a.m. local time (2.30 p.m. IST, 10.30 a.m. BST, 5.30 a.m. ET). Below are all the live streaming and TV options for the match and the rest of the day's action at the French Open.
India: TV: Neo Sports and Neo Prime.
Europe: TV: Eurosport. Live Streaming: Eurosport Player.
UK: TV: ITV. Live Streaming: ITV Player.
USA: TV: Tennis Channel, ESPN and NBC. Live Streaming: Tennis Channel live,Watch ESPN and NBC Sports Live Extra.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel Play.
Middle East and North Africa: TV: BeIN Sports. Live Streaming: BeIN Sports Connect.
Asia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play.
International: Radio: Roland Garros Radio.
