Serena Williams has told a story about how she tasted dog food by mistake here in a Roman hotel, and even got poisoned. But I hope she is all right and will play against Kuznetsova. Serena has beaten McHale, and although perhaps not at her best, there were only ever minor problems in one set and her victory never really looked in doubt. Kuznetsova is also a player who seems to be thriving on clay. Roland Garros have seen a few crazy matches between these two.
Let us not also forget that Svetlana has already beaten Serena this season in Miami, despite being the underdog on that occasion too. However, the betting seems to suggest that a repeat here in Rome is unlikely. Having said this, I’m not sure this will be easy for Serena, in fact, I very much doubt it will be. Kuznetsova looks good, she has beaten Garcia, Stosur and Gavrilova. So, regardless of who walks off the court as the match winner here, we are likely to see more than 20 games.