For better or for worse, all eyes on Serena Williams
— -- This is a nerve-wracking moment to be a Serena Williams fan.
A natural-born optimist can find plenty of reasons to believe she will not only win the French Open, but rip through the field. Pessimists can gnaw their fingernails to the quick worrying that disaster in the red dirt looms.
Only this much is certain: It's Williams' show. Here's a look at the positives and negatives surrounding her ahead of her opening match against Magdalena Rybarikova on Tuesday.
On the plus side
Champion's mind: Williams is the defending champion. We like to talk about players being "in each other's heads." Williams spreads herself thin. She's in everyone's head.
Williams' drive to the title last year was turbulent and pocked with narrow escapes. It was a page-turner that she reads as a cautionary tale.
This year, she told the press after the French Open draw ceremony that she will be taking greater precautions to avoid the flu that nearly led to her downfall in last year's Roland Garros semifinals against Timea Bacsinszky. Williams came back to win the third set 6-0.
"I think about it a lot," Williams said. "I don't know how I got through it."
There's nothing glamorous or awe-inspiring about performing due diligence, what Roger Federer calls "gathering information." Perhaps that's why Williams' great appetite for doing it at this late stage in her career is so underreported. She will be better prepared.
Momentum is on her side: Williams made a powerful statement when she won the Italian Open a week ago without the loss of a set. It was her first tournament since Miami, where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova in a three-set, fourth-round match. In Rome, Williams allowed Kuznetsova only two games.
Competition has question marks: Angelique Kerber defeated Williams in the Australian Open final in February, but the German hasn't been able to consolidate her position at the top. Maria Sharapova failed a drug test and was provisionally suspended shortly after the Australian Open. Victoria Azarenka has had back trouble and Petra Kvitova hasn't won a tournament this year.
Where have all the Grand Slam champions gone?
Neither Simona Halep, Agnieszka Radwanska nor Garbine Muguruza has shown signs of taking control of the game during Williams' lengthy absences this year. The French is a wide, wide Open. The title is there for the bold and willing to take. Nobody has ever been more bold and willing than Williams.
On the minus side
Race against time: The possibility that the majestic effort of 2015 was a spectacular sunset for Williams at the French Open. It was the linchpin tournament in the year of her life. But she's a year older now, going on 35. Reality catches up. Even with Serena Williams.
Williams is in a race against time to catch and surpass Steffi Graf as the all-time Grand Slam singles title champion. Williams, with 21 titles, trails Graf by just one. If Williams doesn't win at Roland Garros, she will have to win Wimbledon and the US Open. This year, the Olympic Games are wedged between the final two majors. She will have her work cut out. It's pressure now -- or even greater pressure later. There is no third option.
Pressure not always a privilege: Rome is a beautiful city. It has a great tournament, but it isn't a Grand Slam. That's a big difference. The pressure on Williams in Paris will be much more intense, and not just because of last year's title or her chase for history.
Onerous path: This French Open draw doesn't look kind for Williams. She opens with Indian Wells quarterfinalist, No. 76 Rybarikova. Kristina Mladenovic, seeded No. 28, is a tall and rangy Frenchwoman with big power who plays well at home. She could meet Williams in the third round. If No. 5 seed Azarenka's recently injured back holds up, she is tapped for a showdown with Williams in the quarterfinals.
Williams will remember how close she came to losing to Azarenka in the third round in Paris last year. But then, Williams came close to losing to almost everyone she played at Roland Garros in 2015. She's resolved not to go down that road again.
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