Serena Williams Almost Lost French Open Match vs Sloane Stephens

Serena Williams bucked a slow start to defeat Sloane Stephens in three sets (1-6, 7-5, 5-3) to advance to the quarterfinals in the French Open.

The victory helped Williams advance and avoid joining Maria Sharapova, who had bowed to the 13th seeded Lucie Safarova in two sets (7-6, 6-4).

The match was made close no thanks to the 43 unforced errors that Williams made, practically double that of Stephens, who had 21.

After a sloppy start which saw Williams being overpowered by Stephens, the no. 1 player in the world recovered her bearings and proved why she has earned that title.

"It's not how you start, I guess, it's how you finish," Williams said. "That's kind of how I'm looking at it" says Williams in an article by the Los Angeles Times.

Stephens actually made a good account for herself and a win was not totally discounted. Both are not strangers to each other.

During the 2013 Australian Open, Stephens had already defeated Williams. A victory would have not been totally surprising as well, considering the inconsistency and slow start that Williams has been showing lately.

Williams knows all too well that she cannot afford any more slow starts and admitted that she has to get her act together, starting in the quarterfinals.

Her frustrations were visibly seen during the match; at one point twirling her racket over her head in reaction to a poor swing, which resulted in one forehand landing on the net.

Regardless, Williams has all the time to pull herself together, heading into Saturday’s match against the runner-up Sara Errani. Errani advanced after winning over Julia Goerges (6-2, 6-2).

Whoever wins that match will face off against either 23rd seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland or 100th ranked Alison van Uyvtvanck of Belgium.

Williams is in a perfect opportunity to win her third French Open title and a 20th Grand Slam crown. But if she continues with her sluggish starts, the road towards achieving that could be put into question.

And with formidable foes ahead, Williams will have to determine why her style of play has been such lately.

"I don't really like to live like this," Williams said. "Believe me, I'm thinking, 'OK, Serena, pull yourself together.'"

She has about five days to figure that out and hopefully Williams can fine-tune herself in time and have a clearer site at a third title.