French Open 2015 Women's Final: Serena Williams vs. Lucie Safarova Predictions

The 2015 French Open women's final seems like your typical top seed versus an underdog story, but you wouldn't know which is which based on how they have performed in this tournament.  

Serena Williams is deservedly the top seed in this event and has dominated women's tennis for almost two decades. With one more win this week she will earn her 20th career Grand Slam title as well as her third in a row.

However, she hasn't looked like herself so far in Paris while barely escaping each round with a win.

In fact, it is No. 13 seed Lucie Safarova who seems like the all-time great. The Czech star has never won a Grand Slam tournament, but she has cruised through this event with six wins without losing a single set.

It will be difficult to keep this up against Williams, but fans should be in for quite a battle when these two match up in the finals.

Women's French Open Finals Info

When: Saturday, June 6

Time: 9 a.m. ET

TV: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Live Extra

Francois Mori/Associated Press

The key story in this match will be the health of Williams. Bleacher Report UK noted how hard the top seed was forced to work in her semifinals win:

Timea Bacsinszky put up a serious battle in the match, but Williams showcased her resolve by coming from behind to earn the win.

"I tried everything. I thought if I lose, I will lose with a fight," Williams explained after the match, per Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press. "I tried, I tried. I found the energy. I don't know where, but I found it. And I won."

As impressive as this come-from-behind effort was, it is something that has become habit for the American lately, especially at this tournament. Carl Bialik of FiveThirtyEight explained how much better she has been late in matches:

He later added that this has been a recurring theme:

While winning is a good thing, you can only play with fire for so long before you get burned. Williams has expended a lot of energy throughout this tournament, going to three sets four different times and surviving general poor play (with the exception of her quarterfinal win) each time out.

Safarova will make sure her opponent doesn't get away with anything in the final.

The No. 13 seed also got off to a poor start in her semifinal match against Ana Ivanovic, but she didn't let a set get away from her, per Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times:

Ivanovic made plenty of mistakes in the match (35 unforced errors with just 25 winners), but Safarova took advantage as she has done each time out. She now has won all 12 of her sets so far at this event.

While the 28-year-old veteran can't match Williams' power on the court, Safarova is incredibly efficient with her first serve, winning at least 69 percent of points in every single match at Roland Garros. She also has had a knack for coming through in the bigger moments with a break on the line.

After a career's worth of struggling in major tournaments, Safarova now has confidence and is on the brink of a Grand Slam title. With Williams likely still dealing with illness and definitely some fatigue, the underdog will use her fitness to her advantage.

Although it won't be another straight-set victory, she has what it takes to pull off the massive upset.

Prediction: Safarova wins 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

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