Serena Williams overcame two lots of nerves on the first day of the French Open crushing Anna Tatishvili and then speaking about the match in French.
The world No 1 returned to the scene of one of the most painful defeats of her career but was dominant in a 6-0 6-1 win over Georgia’s Tatish-vili in only 51 minutes.
Twelve months ago on Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams also went into the tournament as the form player only to suffer the first opening-round defeat of her grand slam career against 111th-ranked Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
The 31-year-old did not allow the ghost to haunt her, which was not really a surprise given her form.
Since the Razzano loss, Williams has won 68 of 71 matches, 10 tournaments including Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open, and now, 25 straight matches.
She said: “I have to say I’m always a little nervous going into first round matches at slams, but this time I wasn’t as nervous as I was previously or in other grand slams.”
The American has not been a crowd favourite at Roland Garros but she found the way to their hearts, receiving a huge cheer when she began speaking French in her on-court interview.
Williams, who is coached by Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou, said: “I have been speaking French for years and years, but I don’t really have a lot of confidence. It’s way, way, more nerve-wracking than playing tennis.”
Fifth seed Sara Errani was runner-up here last year to Maria Sharapova and the Italian was almost as clinical as Williams, beating Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-1 6-2.
Puerto Rican teenager Monica Puig caused the first upset on her grand slam main draw debut, the 19-year-old defeating 11th seed Nadia Petrova 3-6 7-5 6-4.