Victory at the French Open and a new world ranking of two should finally confirm Serena in the highest echelons of the game.

Despite the fact that she beat Venus to a first Grand Slam title, the younger of the Williams was somewhat in her sister's shadow in the last couple of seasons.

Yet many always believed that Serena was more naturally talented than her elder sibling, but lacked the mental resilience to win the seven matches needed for a Grand Slam victory.

That criticism can no longer be levelled at Serena and she has been in sparkling form of late, culminating in victory over her sister at Roland Garros.

At Wimbledon in 2000, she lost to Venus in the semi-finals while last year she led Jennifer Capriati 7-6 5-3 in their quarter-final clash before losing in three sets.