Serena Williams' quest for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles titles continues on Wednesday, when she faces Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round of the French Open.
Williams hasn't won the Roland Garros since 2015 and hasn't made it past the quarterfinals at the tournament since giving birth in 2017. She also hasn't reached the final or her last four majors for the first time since 2008.
Her tournament got off to a relatively steady start on Monday, when she defeated world No. 74. Irina-Camelia Begu, who is also Romanian, in straight sets 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 in the first round. The American squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set, before fighting off two set points in the tie-break.
"It wasn't easy in that first set. I was up and I felt like I had some opportunities and she played really well," Williams said in her post-match interview.
"She [Begu] is a really good player, she has so many good wins, so I'm happy I was able to pull that first set and eventually the match."
The reward for getting past Begu is a second-round match against Burzarnescu (world No. 174), who defeated the Netherlands' Arantxa Rus (No. 83) in straight sets in the first-round.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, three of the world's top six-ranked players are in action in the men's tournament. No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Spain's Pedro Martinez, while No. 6 seed Alexander Zverev plays Russia's Roman Saffiulin and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev plays Tommy Paul of the U.S.
Here's all you need to know to follow the action on Wednesday.
French Open 2021 second-round start time
The second-round of the French Open gets underway at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) on Wednesday morning.
How to watch the French Open 2021 on TV
The French Open is broadcast by NBC, across its flagship channel, NBC Sports Network and Tennis Channel.
Coverage on Wednesday begins at 5 a.m. ET on Tennis Channel and runs until 6 p.m. ET.
How to watch the French Open 2021 online
The tournament will be available to stream on Peacock—NBC's streaming service—the NBC Sports website and NBC Sports app. Streaming services like fuboTV and Sling TV both carry NBC.
French Open 2021 second-round schedule
Aside from Serena Williams, Wednesday it's a busy day for American players. John Isner and Reilly Opelka—the No. 31 and 32 seed respectively—take on Serbia's Filip Krajinovic and Spain's Jaume Munar, while Marcos Giron faces Argentina's Guido Pella.
Opelka is due on the court at approximately 8:10 a.m. ET, while Isner and Giron are expected to begin their respective matches at 8:25 a.m. ET and 8:45 a.m. ET respectively. Mackenzie McDonald faces No. 22 seed Cristian Garin of Chile, while Steve Johnson takes on Brazil's Thiago Monteiro with the two matches set to begin at around 8:55 a.m. ET and 10:10 a.m. ET respectively.
Among the women, meanwhile, Danielle Collins faces the Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina at 7:30 a.m. ET, while No. 23 seed Madison Keys takes on Canada's Leylah Fernandez at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Tommy Paul is the final American in action, headlining the evening session against No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev on centre court at 3 p.m. ET. Medvedev is one of two top-five seeds in action today, with No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas taking on Spain's Pedro Martinez at around 8:40 a.m. ET.
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