Serena Williams rallied to reach the French Open third round on Thursday, moving one win from a possible Maria Sharapova showdown.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion playing her first major since the 2017 Australian Open followed by pregnancy, beat No. 17 seed Ash Barty of Australia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first three-set singles match of her return.
Williams, trying to tie Margaret Court‘s record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, gets No. 11 seed Julia Görges of Germany or Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in the third round.