Serena Williams Will Pave Way to French Open Final with Win over Sara Errani

Serena Williams looked mortal for the first time at the 2013 French Open against Svetlana Kuznetsova, but that doesn't mean she won't take care of business against Sara Errani on her way to the finals.

Through the first four rounds at Roland Garros, Williams seemed to be unstoppable. She won every match in straight sets, with just one 6-3 set against Roberta Vinci working as the closest she came to losing a set.

Then came Kuznetsova. The feisty underdog challenged Williams like few have been able to do, taking the second set 6-3 to even things up at one apiece. Taking advantage of a winded Williams, Kuznetsova proceeded to take a 2-0 advantage in the third and final set.

It was then that Williams turned things around, determined not to falter in the quarterfinals of the French Open once again. (She's been eliminated in the quarterfinals five times in her career.)

Of all the Slams, the French Open has always given Williams the most trouble. She's only won the tournament once (2002), and was ousted in the first round last year. With the quarterfinals curse now out of the way, Williams is in a great position to break her streak of disappointments at Roland Garros.

Williams already holds an impressive win on a clay court against Errani this season. The world No. 1 earned a 7-5, 6-2 win over Errani in Madrid back in May.

It isn't as though Errani has breezed through the field to get to this point either. The Italian has been strong on her way to the semis, but her second set went to a tiebreak against Agnieszka Radwanska and she dropped the first set in her match against Carla Suarez Navarro in the previous round. 

With a day to rest, Errani shouldn't have any issues with fatigue, but she hasn't shown tremendous growth in her game since her loss to Williams in Madrid.

Throw in the fact that Williams is a perfect 21-0 on clay this year, and the stars are aligned for Williams to make her first trip to the finals at Roland Garros since 2002.