Williams set for another run at French

PARIS — Serena Williams says last year’s French Open title feels like it was an out-of-body experience — almost unreal.

Williams, arguably the best tennis player of all time and reeling in some of the sport’s most hallowed records, remains astonished by the mix of willpower and Houdinistyle escape acts that propelled her to the championship. She battled a midtournament fever and flu, shaky nerves and five three-set matches — four in which she dropped the opening set — the most in any Grand Slam title run of her career.

“I don’t know how I won that,” she said. “I really don’t.”

A year later, reality has set in. She can’t count on another high-wire act. The 21-time major winner is again the favorite, but not without questions.

Williams is still ranked No. 1 in the world by a wide margin, a spot she has held for 170 consecutive weeks (second-longest all time). She’s still chasing history — Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 majors is one championship away. She’s still the unquestioned alpha dog of women’s tennis. But the 34-year-old American has played sporadically and, at times, haltingly.

She buried some of those concerns last week in Rome, and none too soon: The French Open, the only major on clay, begins Sunday. Williams will open her quest for a fourth Roland Garros title against No. 76 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.

Displaying little rust after a sixweek break, Williams snapped a seventh-month tournament drought and an 0-2 record in finals this year by defeating fellow American Madison Keys. She didn’t drop a set in her first event since Miami in March, and sent a message that she was locked in and ready for Paris.

“I was pleasantly surprised at Serena doing so well” in Rome, seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert said in an ESPN conference call with reporters Wednesday. Evert added that she didn’t feel Williams’ preparation had been “as professional and intense” on clay as in previous seasons.

Williams’ coach, Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou, also expressed concern about her preparedness.

“She needed to feel the stress of the competition and get her efficiency in matches back,” he wrote in an email from Rome, singling out her 6-2, 6-0 drubbing of former French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.

“I’m feeling pretty fit,” Williams told reporters after defeating Keys 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

The good news for Williams: None of her WTA counterparts dominated the spring clay-court swing. Williams heads to Roland Garros confident that if she manages her nerves and plays close to her best tennis, she’s likely to come out on top.

The men’s field appears more intriguing, but the pressure is on No. 1 Novak Djokovic — the most successful man never to triumph in Paris — to nab the only hardware missing from his 11 majors.

For most of the spring, Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray have been locked in a two-horse battle. Last week Britain’s Murray ended a 1-12 streak against Djokovic by beating him convincingly in Rome. Serbia’s Djokovic defeated Murray this month in the Madrid final.

Also in the mix: nine-time Roland Garros winner Rafael Nadal. His recent level, including titles at Barcelona and Monte Carlo, suggests the fifth-ranked Spaniard is regaining the confidence that earned him the nickname “King of Clay.”

Williams, like Djokovic, has some unburdening of her own. For the third straight major, she is gunning to tie Graf’s Grand Slam record.

After matching Evert and Martina Navratilova by claiming No. 18 at the 2014 U.S. Open, she won the next three for another “Serena Slam.”

“The last time I was chasing a record I kept losing, so it’s not really on my mind,” Williams said.

Other questions linger. Has she played enough? Is age catching up?

Williams, 18-3 this year, has contested just one clay-court tournament and a total of four events since September. She hadn’t played fewer than 27 matches entering Paris since 2011, and has averaged 31.5. Both Williams and Mouratoglou say it’s not quantity, but quality. And no one turns on the dime like Williams.