Venus Williams reached the third round of the French Open with a 6-2 6-4 win over Tunisian qualifier Selima Sfar on Thursday.

The American eighth seed will next face Flavia Pennetta for a last-16 spot after the Italian beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6 6-1 6-1.

Williams, who struggled to get past Israeli Tzipora Obziler in the first round, dropped her serve in the third game but quickly recovered from her shaky start, winning five games in a row to take the opening set in 35 minutes.

Sfar, however, would not give up.

She stole the six-times grand slam winner’s serve in the fifth game of the second set, only for Williams to break straight back.