Former world No 1 Serena Williams made a victorious return to the French Open on Tuesday, defeating the Czech Republic's Kristyna Pliskova in a closely-fought first round contest.
Williams, a three-time champion at Roland Garros, was making her first appearance at the tournament since 2016 having missed much of last season to give birth to her first child.
Despite not competing on a clay court since the French Open two years ago, the 36-year-old American showed few signs of rust, edging a big-serving contest 7-6, 6-4.
There were 28 aces served in the match, with 17 delivered in a first set that saw both players hold firm on serve. Pliskova moved into a 3-0 lead in the tie-break before Williams fought back to claim the opening set.
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The second set saw five breaks of serve, with Williams clinching the decisive fifth before serving out the match. The 23-time grand slam champion will next face Australian Ashleigh Barty in the second round.
"Kristyna played really, really well," Williams said. "I don't know how many aces I saw during the match. I think there is a donation to charity for each ace, so both of us helped.
"Two years is a long time but I've trained hard on this surface. I'm so glad to win a match here and I'm taking it one day at a time."
Williams is joined in the second round by Maria Sharapova after the Russian fought back to defeat Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands.
Sharapova, a two-time French Open winner, appeared to be cruising through her first round assignment when she claimed the opening set in 25 minutes and led 3-1 in the second.
However, the 30-year-old Russian lost five of the next six games as Hogenkamp levelled the match and then moved in to a 3-0 lead in the decider.
Sharapova rediscovered her form just in time to win five successive games to claim a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory and set up a second round clash with Croatia's Donna Vekic.
"I really dug deep but sometimes you need to go through these types of matches where things don't go the way you want," said Sharapova, who has not competed at the French Open since 2015 due to her 15-month doping suspension.
"Happy the way I came back in the third set. I'm so fortunate to be back in this position, I formed so many great memories here."
Garbine Muguruza won her battle of the former champions with Svetlana Kuznetsova as the Spanish world No 3 progressed to the second round.
Muguruza, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2016, prevailed 7-6, 6-2 in a rain-disrupted match against the 2009 champion, a claycourt expert very few would like to take on so early in the tournament.
"It is, so to speak, a second-week match," Muguruza said. "But this is going to reinforce me. It was a very good first round, and the fact that I won, although it was a very difficult match, it was a match against an expert. The last matches I have played, the results were difficult.
"And I think that I feel very encouraged by this kind of a match."
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Director: Saeed Roustaee
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Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
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Rating: 3/5
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Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)
Engine 4.7L V8
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
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If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com