Serena Williams’s highs and lows at the French Open as the 23-time major winner prepares to make her Grand Slam return next weekend in Paris:
1998: 16 years old and making her debut, reaches fourth round where she loses to Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
2002: Wins first of three French Open titles by beating sister Venus 7-5, 6-3 in final having knocked out top seed Jennifer Capriati in semi-finals
2012: Suffers worst Grand Slam defeat, losing to French world number 111 Virginie Razzano in first round, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
2013: Wins second title in Paris with 6-4, 6-4 triumph over bitter rival Maria Sharapova
2014: Second round defeat to Spain’s Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2. “It was one of those days. You can’t be on every day, and, gosh, I hate to be off during a Grand Slam but it happens. It’s not the end of the world,” says Serena who was chasing an 18th career major
2015: Claims a third French Open title by seeing off Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6- 7 (2/7), 6-2, sealing a second ‘Serena Slam’ of holding all four Slams at the same time
2016: Loses her title to Muguruza in a 7-5, 6-4 defeat in final
2017: Sits out Roland Garros due to pregnancy
2018: Ranked 454 in the world and having played just four matches on the WTA Tour all year, Williams returns to Roland Garros seeking a 24th Grand Slam title which would take her level with Margaret Court’s all-time record
