After almost two weeks of competition, the French Open will draw to a close this weekend with the first of the two singles finals being played out between world number one Serena Williams and Czech Republic representative Lucie Safarova.
For Williams, reaching a Grand Slam final is a regular occurrence - this is her 24th appearance - but for Safarova, reaching the last eight of a major tournament had proven difficult until last year's Wimbledon and Saturday's encounter will represent the first time that the left-hander has graced the concluding match of one of the four biggest events on the WTA Tour.
Below, Sports Mole takes a look at how each player has reached the final at Roland Garros, as well as attempting to predict who will prevail on Philippe Chatrier on Saturday afternoon.
Serena Williams
© Getty Images
Age: 33
World ranking: 1
Career titles: 66
2015 record: 31 wins from 32 matches
Run to the final
Despite being restricted in her preparation for the second major of the year, Williams began confidently against world number 190 Andrea Hlavackova but she was pushed all the way against 21-year-old German Anna-Lena Friedsam, who won the opening set before being unable to withstand Williams's fightback during the second half of the match.
For much of her third-round encounter with Victoria Azarenka, it appeared as though Williams would be making an early exit after falling a set and a break behind to the two-time major winner, but she managed to defy illness to outlast the former world number one in three sets.
A similar slow start occurred against compatriot Sloane Stephens, who must have thought she was in for an easy afternoon's work when taking the opening set 6-1, but as against Azarenka, Williams was resilient and eventually powered her way through to the last eight.
Williams conceded just four games in her quarter-final destruction of Sara Errani, and she was expected to make light work of Timea Bacsinszky in the last four, with the Swiss reaching the latter stages of a Grand Slam for the first time.
However, a monumental upset looked on the cards as Williams again look lethargic in falling a set and a break behind, but she somehow found the resolve to register 10 successive games to give herself the opportunity to win her third title in Paris.
Lucie Safarova
© Getty Images
Age: 28
World ranking: 13
Career titles: 6
2015 record: 22 wins from 32 matches
Run to the final
Safarova may have progressed through to the final but it could have been very different for the world number 13 after she was pushed to the limit by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in two tie-break sets in the first round.
She made light work of Kurumi Nara in round two but it was in the next stage where the 28-year-old really began to suggest that she was an outsider for the title by dispatching former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki in straight sets.
The biggest upset of them all would follow in the last 16 as defending champion Maria Sharapova was dumped out of the tournament. The Russian had looked impressive in the early rounds, but she had no answer to the hitting of Safarova, who recorded arguably the most important win of her career.
Spain's Garbine Muguruza provided the opposition in the quarter-finals but for the third time in the space of five matches, Safarova won a tie-break in the first set and it made the difference as she advanced through to take on 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic.
Safarova was outclassed during the early stages of their semi-final clash but after rallying to take the first set with five consecutive games, she held her nerve to complete a remarkable run to the final without dropping a set.
Head-to-head record
If you're a fan of Safarova, you should probably look away now.
As you would expect, Williams has the better of their head-to-head meetings, but the American has barely been troubled in their previous eight matches. Safarova has won just three sets during that time, all of which have come on a hard court.
Their first clash in Hobart in 2007 remains their closest, with Williams only earning victory in a tight final-set tie-break, but Safarova did take Williams the distance in their most recent contest in Beijing last year.
As far as clay is concerned, they faced each other in Charleston in 2012 and 2013, but in two emphatic wins for Williams, Safarova managed to register just six games.
Prediction
With Safarova having proved herself throughout the duration of the tournament, it's perhaps unfair to suggest that the result of the final probably depends on the fitness of Williams, but with the world number one showing her ruthless streak on more than one occasion over the past two weeks, that's the realistic scenario we are left with ahead of Saturday's contest.
Even when Williams has looked on the brink of shaking hands with her opponent, she somehow manages to use the strengths of her game to devastating effect in order to dismantle her opponent. It remains to be seen how much she has left though, because despite reeling off 10 games in a row against Bacsinszky in the semi-finals, she coughed and spluttered her way through the post-match interview before cancelling a press conference.
If Safarova's going to win this match and overcome Williams for the first time in her career, she's going to have to produce the fearless tennis that helped her pull through against Ivanovic. After missing out with a match point, she had to show plenty of character to win the next two games against a resurgent opponent and that should benefit the Czech in her maiden Grand Slam final.
However, that may not be enough, and if Williams can gain a foothold in the match during the early stages, Safarova may struggle to cope with an opponent who is looking for her 20th major crown.
Darren Plant
