Serena Williams feeling relaxed after cruising past Alize Lim

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  • Firm favourite: Serena Williams is on course to face sister, Venus, in the third round.

    Defending champion Serena Williams believes she has less pressure on her at this year's French Open as the American comfortably eased into the second round yesterday.

    The world No1 eliminated her friend and fellow Mouratoglou Academy player Alize Lim 6-2, 6-1 in 158 minutes to book a last-64 date with Spaniard Garbine Muguruza. 

    Despite admitting to some nerves, Williams suggested she is more relaxed than she was in her previous Roland Garros, which she had entered undefeated on clay and with titles in Charleston, Madrid and Rome.

    This European clay swing, Williams made a surprise early exit in Charleston to Jana Cepelova and withdrew from her quarter-final against Petra Kvitova in Madrid with a thigh injury before recovering to win Rome. 

    “I was in really top form last year on the clay, or at least I thought I was. This year I’m just going day by day. I do have to say this year I don’t feel as much pressure on myself as I did last year,” said Williams.

    Speaking of her match with Lim, she added:  “It was interesting. I was a little nervous, like I always am in my first round. It’s kind of always hard for me to shake those nerves and go from there.”

    Williams was joined in the second round by her sister Venus, who overcame an inspired first set performance from Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic to advance 6-4, 6-1. 

    The sisters are now one win away from a highly-anticipated third round encounter.

    “I definitely feel like I’m proud of her, but at the same time, I want her to keep going and do better and do more and more,” Serena said of Venus, who is in a constant battle with the auto-immune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome.

    World No3 Agnieszka Radwanska endured a bizarre first set that began with seven consecutive service breaks before dismissing young Chinese Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-0.

    Meanwhile, Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion and 2011 runner-up, crashed out, losing 6-3, 6-3 to Croatia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.

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