PARIS—Family matter had been high priority for Serena Williams the last two days. On Saturday night, following a fairly routine win over Julia Goerges, she’d started her post-match press conference with a polite request for brevity so she could get home to see her still-awake daughter, Alexis. On Sunday evening, just past 6:00 p.m., she stood inside Court 1 alongside her sister, Venus, the two engaged in a doubles match that they would lose, 6-0 in the third set.
The start of the working week now loomed, beginning with one of those rare matches set to capture the attention not just of longstanding tennis aficionados, but millions more across the planet. On Monday afternoon, third on Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams and Maria Sharapova will go toe-to-toe for the 22nd time.