Serena Williams of Saginaw, MI is in the fourth round of the 2021 French Open. On Friday, Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion, defeated Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, FL, 6-4, 6-4 in the third round.
The Williams/Collins third-round matchup was one of three All-American third-round matches at the French Open. The others have 13th ranked Jennifer Brady of Harrisburg, PA, versus 24th-ranked Coco Gauff of Atlanta, GA, and fourth-ranked Sofia Kenin of Pembroke Pines, FL against 28th- ranked Jessica Pegula of Buffalo, NY, which are still to be played.
Two other American women reached the third round. The 23rd ranked Madison Keys of Rock Island, lost to two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, and Sloane Stephens of Plantation, FL is in the final 32 after upsetting the ninth-seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in round two. Stephens now has another Czech player in 18th ranked Karolina Muchova in round three.
In the past, many of the American women who reached the third round, have had exceptional resumes at majors. Williams won the French Open in 2002, 2013, and 2015. Collins reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2019. Brady reached the Australian Open final in 2021, Kenin won the Australian Open in 2021, and also reached the final of the French Open in 2021. Pegula also had a deep run in Australia earlier this year as she got to the quarterfinals. Keys meanwhile got to to the 2017 U.S. Open Final, where she lost to Stephens.
On the men’s side, four Americans reached the third round. They were 31st ranked John Isner of Greensboro, NC, 32nd ranked Reilly Opelka of St. Joseph, MI, Steve Johnson of Orange, CA, and Marcos Giron of Thousand Oaks, CA. Opelka, Giron, and Johnson were all underdogs in their third round matches, and not surprisingly lost. The last American male player left in the draw is Isner, who plays later on Friday against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
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