Nobody else is Serena out here, it’s me, it’s pretty cool: Williams after reaching 4th round at RG21

Serena Williams said the first week in Paris has been about finding herself as she continued to progress through women’s draw on Friday with a dominant straight-sets win over Danielle Collins to reach the French Open last 16 for the first time since 2018.

The 39-year-old, still one short of Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, saw off fellow American Collins 6-4, 6-4, fighting back from 1-4 down in the second set.

“This whole week [not just this match], I needed to win tough matches, I needed to win sets, I needed to win being down. I needed to find me, know who I am,” said Williams, who had only won one of three clay-court matches this year before the tournament.

“Nobody else is Serena out here. It’s me. It’s pretty cool.”

Williams is now the highest seed left in her half of the draw, with all of the world’s top four absent from the second week.

“There’s still a lot of matches, a lot of great players, as we can see,” she added.

“There’s so much depth in this game now, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing in the first round or not, you really have to fight for every match and nothing comes easy.”

Williams will next face Kazakh 21st…

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