Serena Williams' Biggest Threats to Second French Open Title

Serena Williams has been dominant through the first four rounds of the 2013 French Open and it seems likely that she’ll cruise toward her second career title at Roland Garros.

Williams, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, has only lost 10 games in four matches thus far, which is remarkable. In her most recent victory over No. 15 seed Roberta Vinci in the fourth round, Williams barely broke a sweat.

No opponent to this point has been able to stay on the court for very long against Williams. She’s the clear-cut favorite to win the French Open and unless something unforeseen happens in the next couple of days, the title will be hers. But while she’s been great, there are a couple of tough opponents that stand in Williams’ way.

Here are a few players that Williams could face en route to winning it all at Roland Garros that won’t necessarily be able to defeat her, but will at least give her a run for her money.

Sara Errani, No. 5 Seed

As long as Williams takes down Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals—which she should do with ease—she’ll take on the winner of Agnieszka Radwanska, the No. 4 seed, and Sara Errani, the No. 5. I expect Errani, the better clay player, to be victorious.

Errani is looking to advance to the semifinals for the second straight year, losing in the French Open final against Maria Sharapova in 2012. Prior to last year, she had never made it past the second round at Roland Garros. She seems to have finally figured things out.

Errani won her first three matches in straight sets but was nearly eliminated in the fourth round after losing the first set to Carla Suarez Navarro. Errani, however, battled back and won the next two sets to advance to the quarterfinals.

Williams and Errani have squared off five times over the years and Serena has never fallen. Williams took her down in 2008 and more recently in the semifinals at the Madrid Open, the only two matches on clay in their careers.

If Williams and Errani were to meet up for a sixth time overall and the first at Roland Garros, don’t expect the upset. It’s only taken Williams three sets to defeat Errani once, winning the other four matches in straight sets. There’s no doubt that Williams will be in the final for the first time since she won in 2002.

Victoria Azarenka, No. 3 Seed

Williams and one of the top players in the world, Victoria Azarenka, can only meet if they both advance to the French Open final. Through the first four rounds at Roland Garros, it seems likely that both will continue to be successful. Azarenka, who used to be the world No. 1, has been just a tad less impressive than Williams.

Azarenka flew through the first two rounds of the tournament. In her third-round matchup against Alize Cornet, Azarenka lost the first set, making things difficult going forward. She was able to overcome her first-set struggles, though, and ended up winning the next two sets to eliminate Cornet.

Azarenka didn’t give Francesca Schiavone the opportunity to take advantage of any mistakes, defeating her in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. The Belarusian isn’t the best clay player in the tournament, but has played well to this point at Roland Garros. Whether her success continues, though, remains to be seen.

A final between Williams and Azarenka definitely wouldn’t disappoint. The two are highly competitive and very similar in some aspects. With that being said, Williams has still dominated Azarenka throughout their careers. Williams has won 12-of-14 matches and all three on clay.

Azarenka could have the opportunity to her first French Open and third career Grand Slam, but she’ll likely have to go through Williams in order to do so—and that won’t be easy.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

I already mentioned how there’s a very slim chance that Svetlana Kuznetsova manages to upset Williams, but crazier things have happened in the past. Kuznetsova has survived through the first four rounds at the French Open, something that wasn’t really expected of her in the first place.

Kuznetsova has come close to getting eliminated twice already, but has been able to fight it off and stay in title contention. It took her three sets to be victorious in the second round against Magdalena Rybarikova and in her most recent win over Angelique Kerber, the No. 8 seed in Paris.

Kuznetsova will get the first shot at upsetting the No. 1 seed and she must hope that Williams falters like she did a year ago in the first round at Roland Garros. Serena didn’t play well against Virginie Razzano, who made the most of her first-round opportunity to knock off one of the best there is.

Here’s what Kuznetsova told the Associated Press (via Yahoo! Sports) about her upcoming battle:

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“I mean, she’s the best in the world so far. She’s been playing unbelievable tennis,” Kuznetsova said. “But I believe that I have game and my good days, as well. Let’s cross fingers I will have a good day.”

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Williams is 4-2 against Kuznetsova in the past, with each winning a match on clay against the other. It’s a stretch that there’s an upset, but like I said, you never know what’s going to happen.