With her troublesome knee causing no grief, her ring rust gradually being shed and her form soaring as she powered into the third round, Serena Williams continued to enjoy cutting an inspirational figure to her fellow players at Roland-Garros on Thursday.
Even her outclassed second-round opponent Kurumi Nara, of Japan, almost sounded as if her 6-3, 6-2 defeat by Serena on Court Philippe-Chatrier was a kind of privilege because she had been so thrilled to share the rectangle with the player she considered the greatest of all time.