Can Venus Williams Make The Roland Garros Finals Again?

There's a new #2 in the WTA as of last week.  Just like her recent predecessors in that roll, this player earned most of her ranking points in the non-Slam events, playing well at

But for a change, this model of consistency comes from the Williams family.

Venus Williams has regained the #2 ranking for the first time since 2003 largely on the back of titles in Dubai and Acapulco, as well as recent runs to the finals in Miami and Madrid.  She has only made it past the quarterfinals at one of the last four grand slam events (Finals of Wimbledon 2009), but yet she sits behind only her sister in the rankings.

This was not a case of Venus opting for quantity over quality, either.  The seventeen tournaments she's played in the last year is the third fewest of any woman in the top ten, behind only #1 Serena Williams (15) and #10 Kim Clijsters (10).  Whereas recent #2s like Caroline Wozniacki simply stacked up points by playing nearly every other week, Venus has simply made the most of her time at each event.  In those 17 events she's an impressive 15-2 in her first match, a consistency she had not always been known for in recent years.

Her consistency has also been especially impressive on clay, historically her worst surface.  She won the in Acapulco, made the quarterfinals in Rome, and made it all the way to the finals in Madrid, which is the second biggest clay tournament on the WTA circuit.

Coming into Roland Garros as the #2 seed, Venus is theoretically expected to make the finals.  She's made the final once before, back in 2002 in the first of four consecutive slam finals she lost to her sister.  That run was through a pretty soft draw (including a semifinal against Clarisa Fernandez), but her draw at this 2010 French Open could well be just as cushy.

The early parts of Venus' draw have some definite obstacles in the way of Aravane Rezai and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, other than that the bottom half of the draw seems completely devoid of legitimate threats to make it to the final.

Williams, who will turn 30 before Wimbledon, likely won't have a better chance to win at Roland Garros.  The question is, can she seize this moment?