Serena Williams vanquishes Vitalia Diatchenko in the first round of French Open 

Serena Williams overpowered Vitalia Diatchenko to register a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory in the first round of French Open here on Monday.

After losing the first set everything worked out well for Williams and she came out furiously to dominate Diatchenko and registered thumping victories in the next two sets which included a bagel in the final set.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion, who struggled with a knee injury for much of the season, was playing her second match on the red clay after withdrawing from the second round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.

Diatchenko - who knocked Maria Sharapova out of Wimbledon last year - had little reply when Williams' unmatched power started to land and the 23-time grand slam champion ultimately coasted to an 800th main-draw win.

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The 37-year-old, whose only other meeting with Diatchenko was at the US Open in 2015, will now face Kurumi Nara or Dalila Jakupovic in round two.

Williams, whose most recent triumph at Roland Garros was in 2015, had already saved a couple of break points by the time she dropped serve to love in a scratchy game five.

The American great's timing was well off and she threw her arms up in exasperation when a wild overhead volley went long.

Williams will now face either Japan's Kurumi Nara or Dalila Jakupovic to secure her place in the last 32.

If Williams manages to clinch her 24th Grand Slam title, she will equal Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles.

(With inputs from ANI)