Serena Williams has revealed that she is suffering with flu ahead of her French Open final with Lucie Safarova on Saturday.
The world number one is aiming to win her 20th Grand Slam title by defeating her Czech rival at Roland Garros and in doing so move to within two triumphs of the Open-era record for major successes that is currently held by Steffi Graf.
The American will have to achieve her latest victory whilst battling against a flu virus that has affected her performance throughout the tournament. The two-time French Open champion has dropped the first set in four of her six matches in the competition so far, but her battling spirit has been enough for her to reach the final in Paris.
Williams defeated Swiss player Timea Bacsinszky in three sets in the semi-final and afterwards she admitted that she never expected to overcome her 25-year-old opponent. She said: “I caught the flu after my third-round match and have been struggling ever since. I never thought I could win and I didn’t want to go to a third set.”
“But I thought that if I was going to lose, I had better go for winners. I was so tired and the next thing I knew I was in a third set. I don’t know what happened.” The 33-year-old will now take on world number 13 Safarova in what will be her third final in the French capital and she revealed that she is solely focused on recovering in time to take to the court for Saturday’s showpiece match. She continued: “I just hope I can get better from here.”
