Serena Williams made light work of Kurumi Nara to move into the third round of the French Open in straight sets on Thursday.

The 23-time grand slam champion was not quite at her clinical best, letting a series of early break-point opportunities go, but her progression never looked to be in doubt in a 6-3 6-2 victory.

There were certainly no signs of the difficulties Williams had endured when recovering from a set down to defeat Vitalia Diatchenko last time out, with Nara no match for the 10th seed.

Court Philippe-Chatrier was conquered again and Williams can look forward to a meeting with 20-year-old compatriot Sofia Kenin, who was granted a walkover by Bianca Andreescu’s withdrawal.