Serena Williams, playing perhaps the best tennis of her career, heads to the French Open, riding a 24-match winning streak. She is the winner of the last two of the three majors. She has won 15 majors overall during her tennis journey.
Williams is 15-2 this season and is the No. 1 seeded player. Maria Sharapova is the No. 2 seed at Roland Garros, the world’s most famous clay court surface. Seeded one and two sets up a possible finals match. Sharapova is determined to protect her 2012 title as the defending champ. Sharapova, also playing some great tennis, is 30-4 on the season, with three of those losses coming off Williams’ racket in finals matches.
Sloane Stephens, challenging Williams’ reign, is the second highest ranked player in the U.S. Stephens, now 20 years old, upset Williams in a somewhat bitter match in the first major of the season, and it appears that she no longer considers Williams as a mentor.
On the men’s side, there’s No. 1, Novak Djokovic; along with No. 2, Andy Murray; No. 3, Roger Federer; and No. 4, clay specialist Rafael Nadal. However, Murray will not be attending the tournament because he is recovering from an injury.
With Williams and Stephens at odds, look for tournament organizers to position them in the same bracket to ensure that there will not be an all-American final.