Why Serena Williams Is Glad To Get A Clunker Out Of Her System

— -- PARIS -- Part of what makes Serena Williams so compelling is that even though she is the world's best player, you can never be too certain of what you're going to get.

Despite being 33 years old, she has been ranked No. 1 for 118 consecutive weeks (and 242 total), dating to February 2013. During that stretch, she won the 2013 French Open but was also knocked out of the 2014 French Open in the second round. She's a five-time Wimbledon champ but hasn't made it past the fourth round there the past two years, and last year she had an epic meltdown in doubles due to a mysterious "virus'' that kept her from even successfully bouncing a ball on the ground.

She extended her US Open streak to three consecutive titles (six overall) last year and won her sixth Australian Open, despite some early-match struggles in Melbourne in January. She returned to Indian Wells for the first time in more than a decade this March, then withdrew due to injury before the semifinals.

And then there was Thursday, when she lost the first set to 105th-ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam -- the first time in three years she had dropped a set to a player outside the top 100. She rallied to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, but it certainly wasn't one of the better of her 711 career victories.

"I definitely don't think it could go worse than that,'' Williams said. "I'm just happy I was able to get through that, because I have played some horrible matches and lost them. I honestly thought for a second I wasn't sure I could win today because the level I played was not professional.''

Early on, it looked as if she might repeat her second-round loss here last year to Garbine Muguruza. Williams is nursing a sore right elbow and she hit poorly, double-faulting eight times (five in the first set) and making an astounding 52 unforced errors, including 21 in the first set.

But as she so often does, Serena dug in and responded to the tough start, gradually wearing down Friedsam to win in the end.

"I feel like one thing Venus always tells me: A win is a win, and as long as you live to survive the next day, you can always improve,'' Williams said. "I know my level is literally a hundred times better than I played today, so I think I take more solace in the fact I can play better as opposed to the fact that that's the best I could play. Then I would be in trouble.''

Serena will have to seriously up her game for her next opponent, two-time Aussie champ Victoria Azarenka. Williams is 15-3 against Azarenka but just 4-2 in their past six matches. Their matches often are very close; their most recent, in Madrid, went to two tiebreakers before Serena won in three sets.

"We had a really tough match in Madrid," Williams said. "So I do know if I play the way I did today, I probably won't be winning my match. So I'm going to have to step it up a level.

"I think out of all the top players she's, for whatever reason, given me particularly some troubles. She's great at what she does. She fights hard and never gives up, and she's really feisty.''

Azarenka said she didn't realize she would be playing Williams until Serena told her in the locker room. "Facing somebody who is No. 1 in the world is never easy,'' she said. "But there is no question you have to come up with your A-game and play well.''