The former world No 1, playing her first Grand Slam since giving birth to her first child last September, wore a mostly black outfit with leggings in the Paris sunshine.
And Williams used her special powers of a big serve and even bigger willpower to overcome Kristyna Pliskova 7-6 6-4
Williams, who had not played on clay for two years, said: “I missed playing on centre court and at Roland Garros.
“I had a baby last year and could not play.
“I’m very happy to play here again.
“Two years has been a really long time. I trained really hard on the clay.
“I feel good. I’m just happy to have a match here and I’m just taking it a day at a time.”
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The 23-time Grand Slam winner looked rusty and less than 100 per cent match fit at times – she had not played for more than two months since a first-round defeat in Miami – but her famous serve was in full working order.
That is also Pliskova’s strength, though, and the pair went all the way to a first-set tiebreak which Williams took 7-4 after winning six points in a row from 3-0 down.
The American, 36, frequently cried out with the effort of chasing down and returning the Czech’s heavy strokes in what was only her fifth competitive match since winning the 2017 Australian Open.
But after trading five breaks of serve with Pliskova in the second set, she had the chance to serve for the match at 5-4.
Williams fluffed one match point, then saved three break points as she struggled for first serves.
But she claimed victory at the second time of asking after an hour and 45 minutes.
Williams’ reward is a second-round clash with No 17 seed Ashleigh Barty, who will test supermum’s stamina even further.
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