Serena Williams says overcoming anxiety caused by memories of her 2012 French Open first-round loss was key to winning her second career Roland Garros title.
A year ago, Williams was upset in the first round by French wild card Virginie Razzano.
“I think [I had anxiety] in the back of my head,” Serena told a small group of reporters. “I mean, I played great last year. I won the same tournaments. But this year I was like, 'I just want to win one match here.' If I can just win one match, if I can get a good first round, good second round, if I could get through these I felt like I could do a lot better. So I think that was really, really important for me, to just be relaxed.
"I actually got a little bit tight in my first round even though I won 0 and 1. I just got tight and I told my mom afterwards, ‘I can’t do this anymore. I’m too old for this! I’ve got to find a solution.’ We talked about it and I got over it.”