By Chris Oddo | Sunday, May 18, 2014

 

Serena Williams may be approaching 33, but that hasn't kept her from reaching new heights on the European clay.

Photo Source: Julian Finney/ Getty

With her Rome title defense in the books, Serena Williams improved her clay-court record since the beginning of 2012 to a mind-blowing 53-2, which includes 9-0 against the top ten and 7-0 against the top five. So how is Williams, fast approaching the age of 33, stepping up her game to previously unpegged levels?

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“I am like fine wine, my tennis is getting better with age,” the 17-time Grand Slam champion told reporters in Rome, after shellacking Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-0, to win her third Rome title. The evidence is certainly there to back up Williams' light-hearted assessment of her game at the moment. With a 6-0 record against the top ten in 2014, the only player with three WTA titles will head into the French Open as the clear favorite to do something she has never done before—win back-to-back Roland Garros titles.

Uncharted waters have never been a problem for Williams. On Sunday she completed her first Rome defense, and earlier in the week she passed her sister Venus to move into 10th place on the WTA's all-time win list, as well as notching her 60th career WTA title, which makes her only one of seven players to have done so.

But while wins and titles are important to Williams it's the Grand Slam titles that she craves. She'll head to Roland Garros just one Grand Slam title shy of matching Chris Evert and Billie Jean King with 18 majors, but when it comes to talking about the significance of reaching the milestone, Serena is playing it cool. “I don’t know,” she told the press in Rome on Sunday. “I hope to win at least one more Grand Slam, it’ll be nice but I don’t want to think far ahead. I just think one week at a time and the next week is a Grand Slam week and obviously I want to do well but there are hundred more people who want to do the same so I’ll just go there and do the best that I can.”

There may be a hundred other people (127 others will join Serena in the Roland Garros draw, to be exact) that would love to win the French Open, but there is only one Serena Williams. The others may be talented, and some even elite, but in reality the only thing that can stop the 32-year-old from running roughshod over the rest of the field in 2014's second Slam is her health. Williams does struggle to maintain peak fitness, and those struggles cost her at this year's Australian Open when her back went south on her and she ended up losing to Ana Ivanovic in the round of 16. As recently as last week, Williams had to pull out of the Madrid draw with a left thigh injury. Therefore, a scenario where Serena falls to an unheralded player on a cold, blustery Parisian day is not at all far-fetched.

Though she appeared to be no worse for the wear this week in Rome, it doesn't necessarily mean that there won't be turbulence to come. First and foremost, during her post-match victory today in Rome, Williams thanked her team for helping her keep her body together. Though she made her title run in the eternal city look easy, her words make it clear that it was no simple task to put her thigh injury behind her this week.

One thing's for certain: Serena's fitness—or lack of it—will be the single most determinant factor for her once the action gets underway in Paris next Sunday (and for the rest of her career). Whether or not she continues to dominate the WTA or begins to give up ground on the others will depend on her mobility, speed and ability to remain pain-free more than anything else.

Her mind won't be a problem. Williams is beyond fine in that regard. She's not only the most intense competitor in the game, she is also head and shoulders above the rest of the tour when it comes to tactical IQ, astute shot selection, mid-match adjustments, and managing matches. Her ability won't either. She's just far too talented in every phase of the game.

Right now, the only tangible struggle for Williams—if we choose to call the plight of the No. 1 player in the world a struggle—is her health. If she gets into and stays in peak physical form, it is very difficult to imagine that she won't be sliding on the terre battue on the last Saturday of the French Open, knocking off winners with ease and continuing to wow fans with her mastery of the French language.

Currently, all signs point to good health for Williams, who was fit enough to go without tape on her left thigh this week in Rome, and in good enough shape to roll through the draw with the loss of only one set. But Williams admits that she's not perfect. She says she'll need a few days to rest before ratcheting up her French Open preparation.

“I am not 100 percent,” she said. “I am like so going on adrenaline, so I’ll take a couple more days off.”

Though she looked pretty close to dominant in Rome, Williams may still need another week to age before she truly uncorks her game. A few more days in the bottle, and she should be in vintage form, ripe for a Roland Garros title defense.