Listen to most experts who are milling around Roland Garros as to who might lift the women's title this year and you might come away feeling rather confused.

The past five Grand Slam events have been won by five different players; the past four have all been first-time winners and the top 10 in the rankings are all from different countries. To say the title is wide open would seem to be an understatement.

And yet, there is one woman who stands out above all others, as she has done so often over a career which has brought 13 Grand Slam titles. At the age of 30, Serena Williams is showing the kind of form and commitment that suggests she is capable of winning a second French Open title, 10 years after her first.

"Hopefully it will be six this time with me, but we'll see," the American world No 5 said. "I think in general I have much better commitment in tennis. I am really 100%. I love being on the court now. I love every moment. This is what I live for.

"After going through everything that I went through, I really kind of appreciate every moment more, especially being out on the court."

What she went through was a foot injury that was followed by blood clots on one of her lungs. Having won Wimbledon in 2010, she was out for almost a year and though she reached the final at the US Open last September, it is now almost two years since she won a Grand Slam title, her longest drought for five years.

Having won the clay-court titles in Charleston and Madrid, Williams looks close to her best once more and though the red stuff is her weakest surface, she is looking ominously good.

"It would be really intense and really crazy to win but I'm just ready to get out there and start playing," she said. "Obviously there are several people here that want to win. I think I'm one of those people. I'm just going to focus on doing my best."

Since Kim Clijsters, absent through injury here, won the Australian Open at the start of 2011, the Grand Slam titles have been won by Li Na (here), Petra Kvitova (Wimbledon), Sam Stosur (US Open) and Victoria Azarenka (Australia).

Azarenka has done little wrong since her triumph in Australia and the Belarusian will have breathed a big sigh of relief to find herself in the opposite half of the draw to both Williams and Maria Sharapova, as well as Li Na and Kvitova.

Williams and Sharapova are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals, which is bad news for both, but particularly the Russian, who was soundly beaten when she played Williams in the semi-finals in Madrid.

However, Sharapova's victories in Stuttgart and in Rome, when she outlasted Li Na in horrible conditions, will have given her added belief that she can succeed here, having reached the semi-finals last year.

"I'm much more comfortable on this surface now," she said. "Even though I don't play too many tournaments on it, I feel like with every year that has come and the clay-court season that arrives, I feel physically stronger.

"I'm enjoying it a bit more. Before, I felt I was saving myself a little bit in matches because I didn't always believe that physically I could play seven matches in difficult, heavy conditions in Europe when it's raining. My body just wouldn't recover that well. I've certainly improved that. I'm moving a lot better, which has helped me as well."

Li Na showed she is coming into form nicely as she reached the final in Rome and, as the defending champion, she knows what it takes to get over the line, a confidence that can only help her.

Stosur, who plays Scotland's Elena Baltacha in round one today, reached the final in 2010 and is arguably at her best on clay, while No 3 Agnieszka Radwanska is in the form of her life.

That just leaves Azarenka, who undoubtedly has the ability to win but who admits that being No 1 is taking a little getting used to.

"You feel a little bit more responsibility," she said. "You feel more that you have to be a role model or something.

"I try to be always honest. I just try to be honest with everybody and with myself, especially. I don't think I should change at all because that's what got me to No 1. That's what I'm going to try to stick to."