French Open 2012: Serena Williams' Woes Will Continue

The French Open has not been kind to Serena Williams and 2012 will not be any different.

Only once in her career has Williams taken the women's singles title and the field this year doesn't make things easier.

Turning 31 later in the summer, Williams has time working against her. Along with other reasons, her French Open woes continue this year. Let's check them out but, for Williams' sake, hopefully she can prove the cynics wrong next week.

2012 Production

What does help Serena Williams at this year's French Open are her two clay-court wins in Charleston and Madrid. In addition, Williams has the power and strength to land shots from anywhere on clay, as the slower court does favor that type of player.

Still, she got off to a rocky start in 2012 having made it to only the quarterfinals in Miami before the victory in Charleston.

In comparison to previous years, Williams has seen much more success leading into the French Open such as in 2009 and 2010 where she won the Australian Open, went to the finals in Miami (2009) and made the semis in Italy (2010).

During the beginning of 2011, Williams was absent but managed to finish that year strong. That then carried over into an improved 2012 however, improved consistency from tournament-to-tournament is needed to compete in France.

French Open Inconsistency

2002 was the last year Serena Williams won the French Open and the furthest she's lasted since was the semifinals in 2003. Also in three different years, including 2011, Williams was absent from the clay classic.

From 2007-10 Williams never got past the quarterfinals which isn't much better than how she performed at the tournament in the late-90s. Williams just took a step back and it's simply been a rough tournament despite her powerful advantage on the court.

The good news is that she has enjoyed some success on clay this year, but we all know Grand Slams are another story.

Williams' last major victory was Wimbledon in 2010, but at this stage in her career that was awhile ago. Time is of the essence and her health is another area of concern.

Health

According to Simon Cambers of IBN Live, Williams withdrew from the Italian Open due to precautionary reasons:

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"On Friday [May 18] morning I felt a bit of pain in my lower back and if its not 100 percent its better not to play and make it worse," the world number six said.

Williams said she needed to be careful not to over-play, having been out of the game for a year in 2010 and 2011 because of a blood clot on one of her lungs.

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At this point her health and conditioning above all else will determine how long Williams lasts at the French Open. Other top contenders such as Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka are much younger and entering the primes of their careers.

Williams undoubtedly has the talent, toughness and power shots to compete, but this has also been the most difficult of tournaments throughout her illustrious career.

John Rozum on Twitter.