Tennis: Serena Williams flicks the switch at French Open

Serena Williams wore a jacket with the words "champion", "queen", "goddess" and "mother". Photo / AP

This was one mistake too far for Serena Williams. Sure, the bad backhand put her behind only 15-30 at the outset of the second set of her opening match at Roland Garros yesterday.

What made the miscue so bothersome? She had already dropped the first set against 83rd-ranked Vitalia Diatchenko — and Williams' unforced error total already was at 15 on a windy evening.

So she reacted by throwing her head back and letting out a scream. Then she stepped to the baseline to serve and stomped her right foot. And simple as that, Williams righted herself: She won 11 of the next 13 points, and 12 of 13 games the rest of the way, to come back for a disappointing-to-dominant 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory at the French Open.

"I just was so frustrated at that point, because I have been training well," said Williams. "The past week-and-a-half has been really good, and, God, it was, like, 'this isn't the Serena I have been practising with, or that I see every day'. I just let out this roar, and here I am. So maybe that helped."

She arrived on court with a black-and-white jacket bearing words such as "champion," "queen," "goddess" and "mother" in French.

"Those are things that mean a lot to me and reminders for me — and for everyone that wants to wear it," Williams said. "Just remind everyone that they can be champions and are queens."

A reporter told Williams those four words are "a lot to carry", to which the 37-year-old American replied: "It is a lot to carry, but so is being Serena Williams."

She arrived in Paris having played only nine matches all season due to injury and illness, and so her pursuit of a record-tying 24th grand slam title — fourth at Roland Garros — seemed no sure thing.

That goal seemed even further from her grasp with the way things began in Court Philippe Chatrier against Diatchenko.

Could the nearly impossible happen? Could Williams lose in the first round of a major? She'd only done so once before in 70 slam appearances — at the French Open, in 2012. But once Williams recalibrated everything, she took charge.

- AP