Even the Parisian stormclouds cleared for Serena Williams on 29 May, as the new mother's baby steps back to Grand Slam tennis became a stride into the second round of the French Open.
Kristyna Pliskova, who shared the Wimbledon winners' stage with Serena back in 2010 – the Czech was junior champion as Serena won the real thing that year, played her part across the net on centre court, but there was only one star.
Dressed in a skintight, all-in-one black bodysuit, broken up by a vivid scarlet belt, Serena captivated the French crowd from the start of the contest to its 7-6(4) 6-4 conclusion.
"Two years has been a really long time," she told the crowd in French, referring to her last match on clay.
"I am just so happy to have won a match here... thank you all."
The last time the American had appeared in a Grand Slam tournament was at the Australian Open in 2017, when she won it while pregnant with daughter Alexis Olympia.
This time there was a little rust to shake off – she only gave birth in September – and she didn't quite move as when at her best. But all the same Serena was too strong, too good, simply too Serena for her world 70-ranked opponent.
It was a match-up that, in some respects, made a mockery of statistics. The American started the match ranked 9,999th in the race to the annual season-ender. Pliskova sits 52nd.
But in the data that counts, Serena is a giant of the tennis court. Her haul of 23 Grand Slam singles crowns beats Steffi Graf's total by one, and is just one shy of Margaret Court's record 24.
In every category, Serena's achievements dwarf her opponent's, bar one – Pliskova holds the WTA record for aces in a single match: 31 at the 2016 Australian Open.
She cracked 15 past Serena on Court Philippe Chatrier, but even then saw 13 fly past her as the American gave as good as she got.
I don’t know how many aces there were. But I think money goes to charity, so donate!Serena Williams
"I think we raised some real money," she laughed before making her way to the exit, stopping for selfies and to sign autographs for an appreciative French crowd.
Next up for the three-times champion is Australian 17th seed Ashleigh Barty.
Nadal Fights Off Gutsy Bolelli
Rafael Nadal resisted a spirited show of aggressive groundstroke hitting by lucky loser Simone Bolelli as he launched his campaign for an eleventh crown on the terre battue of Roland Garros with 6-4 6-3 7-6(9) victory.
Resuming the match on Tuesday after a thunderstorm ended the previous night's play early in the third set, Nadal was forced to an entertaining tiebreak to wrap up a hard-fought French Open first round encounter.
Bolelli resumed play as he had ended the night before: sending down missiles at Nadal from his baseline, seeking to prise open the Spaniard's defences. Audacious backhand passing shots on the Nadal first serve and delightfully disguised drop shots brought frequent loud gasps from the crowd.
Speaking after the match, Nadal said he should have been more aggressive in response to the Bolelli attack.
It was difficult today to play so aggressive, being in the first round and against a player who really came on court and decided to play that strong.Rafael Nadal
Even so, he maintained the calm and poise of a French Open champion who entered the tournament with a 79-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros, retrieving seemingly impossible balls and letting rip with his own exquisite passing shots.
He survived four set points against him in the tiebreak, coming back from a 3-6 deficit, before finally triumphing.
Bolelli was fearless from the outset, with nothing to lose. Nadal, after all, had won his tenth French Open title in 2017 without dropping a single set and has been in imperious form, arriving in Paris with a 19-1 win-loss record on clay this year.
The world number one grinded out Monday's first set 6-4 but the Italian kept coming, at times hitting the ball harder and flatter than Nadal to lead by a break in the second before Nadal fought back to take a two-set lead.
Still Bolelli was not yet done, returning to the court on Tuesday with an early third set break in the bag and hitting ferociously at the Nadal baseline. Yet he was unable to break through and squandered four set points.
Even in defeat, Bolelli said he would be leaving Paris happy.
"It gives me a lot of confidence, I played a really good tennis," the Italian told a post-match news conference. "I think maybe I deserved the third set. But Rafa is like this, you have to go after every point, pushing and pushing."
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