Serena Jameka Williams can be viewed by many as the greatest female lawn tennis player to have graced the court with her 23 grand slams.
The 39-year-old and mother of one has remained the only player to have won 23 Grand Slams singles titles in Open Era and only the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court with 24 to her credit.
However, many have wished and hoped that the former world number one will be able to prove her domineering prowess by equaling Margaret Court’s feat with just one additional Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, all attempts have been abortive for Serena who is known for her fierce tenacity to clinch another Grand Slam since her victory in 2003 Australia Opens when she completed her career Grand Slam by having won all four of the slam’s component tournaments.
Most painfully, Serena has lost two Grand Slam titles in 2018 alone when she lost 6-3, 6-3 to Angelique Kerber and 6-2, 6-4 to Naomi Osaka in Wimbledon and US Open respectively.
Same sad tale befell the American the following year when she lost yet another two Grand Slams with her defeats to Simona Halep 6-2, 6-2 at Wimbledon and Bianca Andreescu 6-3, 7-5 in the US Open.
Finally, the opportunity for Serena to add to her Grand Slams and equal Margaret Court’s 24 could be staring at her especially with withdrawal of two top seeds Naomi Osaka who withdrew from the Roland Garros on Monday due to depression and world number one Ashleigh Barty who just withdrew on Thursday due to an injury.
With these two top withdrawals, Serena could be looking to battle the likes of Belarusian third seed Aryna who remains the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw and Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina who recently enjoyed a more straightforward win when she beat American Ann Li 6-0 6-4.
Serena’s other top challengers could be her fellow American fourth seed Sofia Kenin who had a tougher battle in the first set against compatriot Hailey Baptiste but came through to win 7-5 6-3.
No doubt, most tennis lovers will be hoping to see Serena finally seize this chance for her record 34 Grand Slams after her victorious two hours battle against world number 174 Michaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 in three sets to set up a third round match against Danielle Collins on Friday.