The Latest: Serena Williams wins easily to reach French QF
PARIS (AP) The Latest on the French Open (all times local):
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12:20 p.m.
Wasting no time at all after waiting two days to play, Serena Williams moved closer to her record-equaling 22nd Grand Slam title by easily reaching the French Open quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Williams dominated from start to finish during a 6-1, 6-1 victory over 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in only 62 minutes Wednesday.
The match originally was scheduled for Monday, but showers forced cancellation of an entire day of play at Roland Garros for the first time in 16 years. Then, on Tuesday, more rain allowed for a total of only 2 hours of play around the grounds, and Williams' match was postponed again.
Finally in action, in Wednesday's opening match at Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams looked very much like a 21-time Grand Slam champion facing a 21-year-old who has only reached one major quarterfinal, losing at that stage in Paris last year.
Williams, the defending French Open champion, is trying to match Steffi Graf's Open-era mark of 22 major titles.
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11:05 a.m.
After two days of almost incessant rain, the covers have come off the courts at the French Open and the skies, while still thick with clouds, have stopped dropping rain.
Serena and Venus Williams play first on Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen, respectively, in fourth-round matches carried over from Monday, when rain washed out the whole day of play for the first time in 16 years.
Defending champion Serena plays No. 18 Elina Svitolina. Venus takes on No. 8 Timea Bacsinszky.
Because of scheduling problems, after rain continued for most of Tuesday, too, matches are also spread on other courts. Kiki Bertens vs. No. 15 Madison Keys is on Court 1; No. 12 Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Yulia Putintseva of Ukraine is on Court 2.
