Returning Serena Williams ready to deny Paris convention

LONDON: Convention would have it that to succeed on the gruelling clay courts of Roland Garros requires playing a stack of matches and having miles in your legs.

But then Serena Williams has never been one to take too much notice of convention.The 23-times grand slam singles champion will be back at Roland Garros having missed last year’s event as she prepared to have her first child, Alexis Olympia, who was born in September.

Following a tumultuous birth, when she needed emergency surgery after suffering a blood clot, just being back on the court is a remarkable achievement.When she returned to the Tour in March, playing in Indian Wells and Miami, she looked short of fitness and form, going out in the third round and first round respectively.

Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, admits she returned too soon but the pair have been working hard together ever since.At 36, Williams is chasing the record of 24 grand slam title wins, held by Australia’s Margaret Court, and if she lines up at Roland Garros, she will be fitter, fresh and dangerous.

“Serena will play the French Open to win it,” Mouratoglou told the WTA website recently. “Can she do it? Serena can achieve anything — after being her coach for six years, I’m even more sure of that statement.

“It was the arrival of Mouratoglou as Williams’ coach in 2012 that sparked the most successful period of her career.Having been knocked out of the French Open in the first round, Williams turned to the Frenchman to revive her fortunes; they have won 10 grand slam titles together since.

Williams, currently ranked 453, will be unseeded in Paris, which means she could face any of the highest-ranked players in the first or second round.But even with her lack of match practice, if anyone can hit the ground running it is Williams, the winner there in 2002, 2013 and 2015.