Serena ready to reclaim top billing

The two-time champion has Sharapova and Co in her sights, and at last a clean bill of health.

Serena advances after slow start

Serena Williams recovered from an awful start to her French Open campaign to beat Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova.

The Australian Open champion made 26 errors in the first set and 19-year-old Pironkova emerged from a six-hour rain delay to clinch it.

But Williams suddenly found her form and reeled off nine games in a row before triumphing 5-7 6-1 6-1.

Williams is in the same quarter of the draw as Justine Henin, a 6-4 6-3 winner over Russian Elena Vesnina on day one.

French Open tennis: Day one round-up

Serena's passion still burns bright

Serena Williams does not want to die. Not again, anyway. It was a distressing experience, and not one she would like to repeat in a hurry.

	Sparkling return: Serena Williams' form has silenced all the critics

"A plane crashed into a building I was in and I ended up dying. It was pretty sad. It upset me when I watched it. I thought: 'I don't want to die any more'. I thought it would be cool but it made me realise dying isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially as I could see the effect it had on other people." She died exquisitely - "I thought it was one of my better roles" - during an episode of American hospital drama ER last year. There was a lot of screaming, hysterics and blood, which is pretty familiar territory to those who know their women's tennis. Only this week, Serena Williams, in her other guise as tennis superstar, was in trouble for venting her frustration in Rome on a tennis ball which almost caused bodily harm to a line judge.

She promptly disarmed her critics with a fulsome confession. "Thank God, I didn't hit her. I felt so bad. I think I need to go to anger-management classes." This, while nursing another deep controversy that fascinated the Italian press: having her hair cut short. A sort of Posh-esque bob dyed black. She calls it her "rebel look".

Nothing could be more appropriate because, in 2007, the younger of the terrorising Williams sisters has taken a sledgehammer to the accepted wisdom that her love of tennis is cooling. No such thing. She won the Australian Open in January, crushing Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in a final that lasted only 63 minutes. She swept the benighted Russian aside again 6-1, 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Florida. By coincidence, Sharapova has not been seen since. To the imperious former No 1, this is clearly worse for her image than when the news broke at Wimbledon that she was a stamp collector.

Meanwhile, Williams was starring in her own reality Rocky movie. Down 0-6 in the first set to Justin Henin in the final, Serena fought back like a racket-wielding tigress, staving off two match points and ultimately winning 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. "Even though I was down, I was never out. I kept fighting. It was important not to surrender. I never threw up the white flag." Those are trademark sentences from the woman who owns eight grand slam singles titles. So is "Uh-huh" when she is far from taken by your line of questioning. Like her groundstrokes, her monosyllables can pack pure menace. You have to be on your guard. One, for disapproval and two, for concussion by earring when she kisses you hello. The Williams sisters have always gone the route of major jewellery. The earrings in Rome looked like something Claudius might have presented to his favourite gladiators.

For all her new poise, results and maturity, there is something still a little nutty about Serena. She is the first to admit it. "Mmmm, I'm actually still really bouncy. I've just been playing video games in my room that I'm obsessed with. A tennis game. I play games all day and night. Old arcade games. I watch a lot of animation programmes. I'm a big kid, really. I just put on a show." The show has been running for some time. It is 12 years since she turned professional at the age of 14, trying to catch up with her bigger sister, Venus, and the plot lines have been scarcely credible, featuring tragedy, comedy, world dominance and owning a dog with anorexia. This last may not be entirely true, but it is her only explanation for the slenderness of the Jack Russell, Jackie, with whom she shares her travels. (Note to police: she is not bringing Jackie to Wimbledon. No arrest necessary.)

She was in Rome for the Italian Open. where she lost yesterday to Patty Schnyder - only her third defeat this year. But it may be a blip, not a change of tack. She is still on course for the French Open, which she won in 2002. Those were the days of her apparent invulnerability. Her role model was less Chris Evert than Thor. By January 2003 she held the four grand slam titles simultaneously. Then ennui and acting appeared to set in. She suffered chronic problems with her left knee and would disappear from the scene for months on end, only to pop up in a soap opera on TV. She would make comebacks, win the Australian Open and then disappear again. Last year, she missed Wimbledon and dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in a decade.

Game over, it was assumed. The assumption was wrong. Her career didn't die, it was just on pause. This is a rehabilitation, not a resurrection. After dabbling in many different fields, it is as though the youngest Williams has decided she likes tennis best, after all. Most notably, the feeling of destroying the opposition.