The tennis star's up-and-down experience at Roland Garros is a microcosm of her broader tennis journey. Williams is many things, but she is above all resilient. In 2020, she is still a contender but no longer the automatic favorite at age 39 and with a daunting draw
Serena Williams of the United States in action against Kristie Ahn of the United States in the first round of the singles competition on Court Philippe-Chatrier during the French Open Tennis Tournament at Roland Garros on September 28th 2020 in Paris, France.
Image: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
The French Open is the Grand Slam tournament that Serena Williams has played in and won the least, but it has been anything but a footnote in her long and layered career.
The gritty red clay blunts some of her power and limits her ability to change direction in a flash, but she has managed to rise above in Paris after traversing some deep valleys, including her only first-round defeat in a major singles tournament.
In that sense, her up-and-down experience at Roland Garros is a microcosm of her broader tennis journey. Williams is many things — driven, droll, maternal, territorial and outrageously talented — but she is above all resilient.
Paris, a city she enjoys enough to have made it a part-time home, proves the point, perhaps better than anywhere.
In 2020, she is still a contender but no longer the automatic favorite at age 39 and with a daunting draw.
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