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Serena Williams has made Paris her second home, but the French Open has yet to fully embrace her tennis talents as she has moved within sight of Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam women’s singles titles.
Williams took her sixth Australian Open in January — her 19th Grand Slam title — but has just two French Open triumphs on the demanding Roland Garros clay, claiming the crown in 2002 and 2013.
Last year, she fell in the second round and, having pulled out of the Rome tournament two weeks ago with an elbow injury, any weakness in her usually commanding game will be exposed in Paris, where champion Maria Sharapova remains her great rival.
Martina Navratilova, who is joint fifth on the all-time Slam singles winners’ list with 18, believes Williams, 33, still has time to write her name in the history books.
“Serena is amazing and she will get to 20, for sure,” Navratilova told The Tennis Podcast. “There are plenty of good players but nobody has been able to really bother her or put up a solid rivalry.
“So it is possible that she will pass Margaret Court. If anybody can do it, Serena is in a great position. But it is still a tall order.”
