Nadal scores second-round victory; Serena withdraws with injury

PARIS — Rafael Nadal continued his campaign for a 13th French Open title on Wednesday with a dominant 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 second-round win vs. Mackenzie McDonald, while veteran Serena Williams pulled out with an Achilles injury.

Two-time finalist Dominic Thiem also moved into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win against American qualifier Jack Sock.

German sixth seed Alexander Zverev struggled in a four-hour five-setter against Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert, but the US Open runner-up prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4.

Women’s top seed Simona Halep faced no problems in her 63, 6-4 win over fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu and moves on to face American Amanda Anisimova, who bested Bernanda Pera 6-2, 6-0.

Third seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine advanced into the third round despite a second-set slip-up against Mexican qualifier Renata Zarazua, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.

Svitolina will meet Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova after her 6-3, 6-3 win over Australian Astra Sharma.

But American teenager Coco Gauff crashed out after a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss to Italian Martina Trevisan, who meets Greece’s Maria Sakkari next.

Nadal won 11 straight games for a two-set lead as McDonald, who is ranked 236th, was no match for the world No. 2, who booked his third-round place with a crushing cross-court backhand.

The Spanish 19-time major winner will play Italian Stefano Travaglia next after he dispatched Japan’s Kei Nishikori in five.

Zverev will face another Italian in Marco Cecchinato after his four-set win over Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero, while third-seeded Thiem will face Norway’s Casper Ruud.

Williams, 39, was due to play Tsvetana Pironkova on Court Philippe Chatrier, but the Bulgarian was given a walkover as Williams quit with the Achilles problems that had already bothered her at the New York Grand Slam.

“(I’m) struggling to walk so that’s a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover. This is not a nagging injury. This is an acute injury,” Williams told a video news conference.

“If it was my knee, that would be more devastating for me but this is something that just happened and it’s super acute. For lack of a better word, I just ran into bad timing and bad luck in New York.”