TEMMIS Serena Williams grows both on, off tennis court

A win at the French Open would be Williams' fifth straight major title
PARIS (AP) -- So much has changed for Serena Williams since the last time she arrived at Roland Garros to play in a French Open.
Oh, sure, the skills and speed were there a year ago, and they are there now. Same with the power and the shotmaking.
But now she's entered a new realm, having won four straight majors, a self-styled "Serena Slam."
On top of the world
She claimed the No. 1 ranking from her older sister. She sparked talk of an undefeated season and had some wondering whether she might need to pull a Sorenstam and play against men to find a true challenge.
And that's just on the court. Away from it, too, Williams fully emerged from Venus' shadow, dabbling in acting and modeling, finding her adult voice.
"The French Open," Williams said, "was the beginning of the big story."
This is not to say everything in the past 12 months went as she would have wanted. Her parents completed their divorce; a stalker followed her around the world and was arrested at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
There are added demands on her time, extra scrutiny from the media.
She seems to be handling it all as well as anyone could at 21.
"I'm more mature. I've experienced a lot more in life, on and off the court," Williams said. "I'm all-around an older person. I don't make the same mistake twice -- that goes in tennis or in life."
Tough competiton
When play starts at the French Open on Monday, Williams will have a chance to win a fifth straight major title, something last accomplished by Steffi Graf in 1988-89. Williams also could take the second step toward a calendar-year Grand Slam.
Suddenly, however, other players might truly believe that another all-Williams Grand Slam final isn't such a sure thing.
After opening 2003 with 21 straight victories, Serena lost twice -- gasp! -- in about a month: against Justine Henin-Hardenne in Charleston, S.C., and against Amelie Mauresmo in Rome.
"She can be frustrated," Henin-Hardenne said after her upset. "I think it's good for the other players that we can see that."
Mauresmo, for her part, was emboldened enough to offer a scouting report on Serena: Play longer points.
Venus, meanwhile, fell to No. 3 in the rankings last month. And May 4, she quit during a match against Mauresmo with a stomach muscle injury.
"Everybody's playing better these days," Serena said. "We've definitely raised the bar."
Both statements are true. The list of challengers includes Mauresmo, a semifinalist at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year; Henin-Hardenne, the 2001 French Open runner-up; Kim Clijsters, who supplanted Venus at No. 2 and has won the same number of tournament this year as Serena (three); and 2001 champion Jennifer Capriati.
Then again, of that group, only Capriati has won a major.
On the men's side
The men's tournament is far more wide open.
Plenty of players could make a strong case that they'll win, from top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt, to eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi, to 2002 finalist Juan Carlos Ferrero, to 1998 champ Carlos Moya, to three-time winner Gustavo Kuerten, to fifth-seeded Roger Federer, to any of a number of relatively anonymous players who happen to be particularly adept on red clay.
As Agassi's coach, Darren Cahill, put it: "Andre is one of the favorites, along with guys like Hewitt, Ferrero, Moya and Federer. Unlike the other Grand Slams, the French Open presents an opportunity for a lot of people to win."
For the most part, it seems as though Serena Williams can't lose.
She made a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom "My Wife and Kids," had photos in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue, and counts Puma, Avon, McDonald's and Close-Up toothpaste among her sponsorship deals.