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ROME, Italy – Serena Williams set aside her 0-2 record in finals in 2016 to snag her first title of the season at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Sunday, defeating Madison Keys 7-6(5), 6-3. The title was Serena’s first since the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati last summer and her week in Rome proved dominant. She did not lose a set in her first tournament since Miami, and reasserted herself as the favorite as she seeks to defend her title at the French Open starting next week.

“I have tried to defend there once, twice, three times before,” Serena told reporters. “Didn’t quite work so well.

“But this year is different. I’m going to definitely go in there and I feel more calm and I don’t feel stress to have to win. I feel like I just am happy to be out here.”

In a clay court season that saw no single player dominate, stress or no stress, Serena goes into Paris with a full head of steam and the relief in knowing she finally managed her nerves and executed when it mattered in a final. The three-time French Open champion struggled through a tough tournament in Paris last year, losing the first set in four matches and needing five three-set wins to win the title. She described her 2015 win as a “miracle”.

“Obviously my major memory was probably that semifinal and the final, too, and the night before,” Serena said. “Just that whole last three, four rounds was extremely difficult for me.

“Honestly, just – I don’t even know the words for it. Courage is beyond anything I could describe. It was just honestly probably just a miracle.”

WTA Insider sat down with Serena after her triumph in Rome to discuss her week in the eternal city, how she plans to settle into Paris, and we take a slight detour into the world of the Williams Invitational, a private annual competition staged by Serena and Venus for family and friends in Florida.

Q: Congratulations on winning your title here in Rome. What is it about this city that stands out to you?
A: So much history in this city. You just think of it as a world power and you think of all the people who were here. That’s what stands out to me. Just seeing the Colosseum and all the history behind it is pretty cool. This is actually one of my favorite stops on the tour. This city is so awesome. Then to be able to play in Rome is really cool too.

Q: So 70 titles. I don’t know if you know if you know this but I’ve never won a WTA title. So I don’t know what it’s like to win one. I don’t what the emotion is that goes into it. What was the emotion winning Rome. Was it a sense of relief? A sense of triumph given everything that’s happened? What were you feeling?
A: I just felt really good. I wasn’t sure if I could win this tournament because I was dealing with, you know, a lot of things. Physically coming in here I wasn’t feeling my best and then I was like ok, will I be able to play long matches? And I was and it worked out. So I’m feeling really good.

Q: What was tougher for you these past couple of months, the physical side of things or the mental side of things?
A: It was just for me, obviously physical is always hard because you always want to make sure you’re injury free. You want to make sure that you are able to stay for a really long time because this is a really tough season especially with the Olympics this year. So there’s a lot of stuff going on. But I am just living each day as it comes and staying calm.

Q: Is it easy not to look forward? It is a packed schedule starting with here at the French Open, then grass, then the hard courts and Olympics, is it easy to stay one week at a time or can it get overwhelming?
A: I guess if you think about it it can get really overwhelming. But I don’t really think about it. I’m really good at staying in the moment. Honestly I can’t even imagine the Olympics yet because I can’t believe I’m going to be in another Olympics. It’s so cool.

Q: It’s so theoretical right now.
A: In a way I can’t believe I’m going to be in it again. It’s a super cool feeling. Wimbledon feels so far away. It’ll be here before you know it. Although Roland Garros seems like it snuck up. It’s here and I’m like Oh my gosh, it’s here.

Q: You mentioned in the press conference that this is just your fourth tournament of the season. So it hasn’t been like you haven’t been on the tour side of things even if you have been working in practice. Does that accelerate May? Paris is now here and you only have four tournaments under your belt?
A: Yeah, but it feels good. I’ve been playing for so many years. I think at my age I don’t need to play 12 tournaments. I’ve been in the final of three of the four. I don’t feel like I need to play every single week. I just need to focus on winning the tournaments I play or doing well at the tournaments I play and going from there.

Q: Do you think that’s an adjustment from a few years ago? You had that stretch of 18 months where you played non-stop and you were winning at a crazy clip. Now maybe it’s time to contract that a little bit and focus on the big tournaments?
A: Honestly it’s about how I feel. Right now I feel like I don’t need to play every week. Back then I felt like I did and I wanted to.

Q: Because you were trying to prove something?
A: I was trying to get that No.1 position back too and I felt like I needed to play more to get there. I wanted to work my way to that. Now I just feel like I never thought I’d be in this position so let me focus on the big tournaments and see what happens.

Q: You still have that apartment in Paris. Do you go straight to Paris and start practicing there and settle in? Or do you go somewhere else? What’s your gameplan.
A: I’m going to go to Paris. I’m going to go tomorrow. I wish I would go tonight but…

Q: You might as well get there…
A: Right? But I’ll just go tomorrow. I love Paris. I feel a little weird here because I don’t speak perfect Italian. I can understand everything but I can’t speak it. So it’s very difficult. At least in Paris I can understand all the French. So I feel like it’s such a relief because I can go somewhere and have conversations. I know my neighborhood, I know where to go. So I’m looking forward to that.

Q: Do you have a tradition when you get back to Paris?
A: I do for Rome. But for Paris all I can imagine is my bed. My kitchen, I love my kitchen. I can’t wait. My closet, which is pretty cool.

Q: You still have that shabby chic aesthetic?
A: No, I’m modern. I moved, so it’s modern now.

Q: You’re evolving all the time.
A: Too much!

Q: So I see you’re wearing the Kryptonians necklace…
A: Yes! YES!

Q: I have to ask. You’re fist-pumping like a champ right now. So I assume the Williams Invitational went well?
A: We did well! We won gold in dance, we won gold in dodgeball. We didn’t place in tennis, but our focus is definitely dance and dodgeball. So we did great! I’m a Kryptonian for life. Shout out to all the Kryptonians!

Q: How big were the teams this year?
A: Our teams grew. Our core team was like 25 people.

Q: So if dance and dodgeball are your strengths for the Kryptonians, what are your weaknesses?
A: We’re not great in tennis (Laughs). This is the second year in a row we didn’t place in tennis. Yeah, we need to work on our tennis game. But honestly what matters most is the dance. Everyone really goes all out for the dance.

Q: I did see an Instagram video. There was one.
A: There are a couple out there.

Q: You were droppin’ it.
A: We were werkin’ it.

Q: Well congratulations, Serena, on the title. And I guess I’ll see you in Paris.
A: Yes.

Listen to more from Serena in the latest episode of the WTA Insider Podcast:

Click here to keep up with WTA Insider’s pre-French Open coverage and follow along with the rest of the Insider RG Contenders.

All photos courtesy of Getty Images.

PARIS, France – A brief delay truncated the order of play again on Day 2 of Roland Garros, but the first round got underway in earnest by afternoon; catch up with the biggest storylines as Tuesday’s matches came to a close. 

Aga and Simona roll, Muguruza survives: No one is talking about No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanksa here in Paris, but she rolled through her opener against Bojana Jovanovski, losing just two games. She’ll have a much trickier task in the second round against Caroline Garcia, who played a sharp match to beat Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets.

Not be outdone on the day, Simona Halep matched Radwanska’s feat, losing two games to Nao Hibino. She plays Zarina Diyas next.

It was a different story for No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza, who needed three sets to get past a slumping Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was Schmiedlova’s 12th consecutive tour-level loss this year. Muguruza chalked up her slow start to, well, her headphones. The Spaniard didn’t hear her match announced over the loudpseaker and had just 10 minutes to warm up.

“I think I had the music on or something,” she said. “I didn’t really listen when someone talks with the speaker. The supervisor came, and they’re like, We’re waiting for you. I’m like, No way. I start to do running and jumping fast. So I didn’t have the time to really warm up.”

Cagla Buyukackay makes history: Buyukackay became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to win a match at a Slam, as she rallied to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2. You’ll hear more from Cagla on Tuesday.

Heather Watson streaks to a big win: Watson’s first round match against her doubles partner Nicole Gibbs was suspended on Sunday due to rain, with Gibbs serving up a break and a point away from consolidating at 2-1 in the third. On Monday’s resumption, Watson would save that game point and go on to win five straight games to win, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.

“My first goal was to win that first point, because I knew it was very important. I could have been 3-1 down and just one point,” Watson said. “I actually had a talk with my coach and we talked for five minutes about how we’re going to play that first point. Once I got that, I think I just kind of settled. Especially once that game was done, I started swinging through.”

Currently ranked No.56, the win was a big one for Watson’s Olympic qualifying chances. She’ll play No.13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round.

Roberta Vinci’s early exit: The highest seed to fall after the first two days in Paris: No.7 seed Roberta Vinci. The Italian has struggled with her form since the tour turned to clay, her most uncomfortable surface. She left Paris winning just four games against Kateryna Bondarenko.

Tsvetana Pironkova gets a win on clay: When you think of clay, you don’t usually think of Pironkova, a 2010 Wimbledon semifinalist. The Bulgarian, now ranked No.102, thrives on fast, low-bouncing surfaces such as grass and very particular hard courts – remember that Sydney title? – but clay has been a challenge.

On Monday she faced off against one of the best clay courters on tour in former Roland Garros finalist and No.16 seed Sara Errani. The Italian came into Paris struggling, having gone 0-3 on European clay this season, and the lack of form showed. Pironkova rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 upset and will face Johanna Larsson in the second round.

Naomi Osaka continues to impress: The 18-year-old made the third round in her Grand Slam debut in January at the Australian Open. Now she’s into the second round at her French Open debut, beating No.32 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-5. She’ll play Mirjana Lucic-Baroni next.

Osaka admits she’s not adept on the red clay yet, but her game may be perfectly suited for the surface. Like many who grew up playing on green clay, the European red stuff has been a shock. “I was like, Oh, my God,” Osaka said when asked about her first reaction to red clay. “Because last year I didn’t really play red clay. I didn’t play any clay, I think, so technically this year is my first time on red clay.

“Oh, God,” she said, smiling. “I don’t know what I was thinking because it’s completely different…. It’s kind of slow, and then I’m just like, Oh, hardcourt, please. But, I mean, I have to adjust, so I can’t complain about it all the time.”

“I don’t have like a hateful relationship with clay. I used to think I was the queen of grinding and then I was like, Oh, now I have to hit. People that hit powerful do well on clay. They do well on any surface.”

Class of 1997: The young class of 1997 on tour has been a promising one. Belinda Bencic has obviously set the standard of the 18-year-olds, but Jelena Ostapenko, Daria Kasatkina, and Ana Konjuh have also been eying a surge forward. Osaka says there’s no rivalry between the young women. Just sources of motivation.

“They’re kind of doing better than me right now, but I don’t know,” Osaka said. “I am trying to do my own thing and I’m sure they’re trying to do their own thing. We’re all going for different goals that are kind of the same because everyone wants to be No.1 and stuff. I mean, I don’t have any like [ill will] – nothing but love. Like no negative feelings or anything towards anybody.”

Shelby Rogers ‘bolts’ into the second round: Read more about Rogers’ big upset over No.17 seed Karolina Pliskova here.

Serena Williams, Angelique Kerber, and Victoria Azarenka ready for Tuesday: After two rain-addled days in Paris, the forecast looks positive for Tuesday, which means in an ideal world, the first round will conclude as scheduled. World No.1 Serena Williams gets underway against Magdalena Rybarikova, Kerber is on upset watch against Nuremberg champion Kiki Bertens, and Azarenka plays Karin Knapp.

Full order of play here.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.