PARIS, June 2: With transport strikes poised to paralyse France, Amelie Mauresmo will attempt to derail the Serena express speeding towards a fifth consecutive Grand Slam.

The French world number five has thrilled her home crowd this year and on Tuesday, when the rest of France is due to grind to a halt, will play her first Roland Garros quarterfinal.

She will not be cowed by the sight of world number one Serena Williams across the net.

This year Mauresmo has broken two jinxes, by roaring into the second week of her home tournament after several jittery years and by overcoming her Williams complex.

She achieved the latter by beating Venus in Warsaw in May and Serena in Rome a week before the French Open began.

Confident and looking solid, Mauresmo is nonetheless realistic about her chances of beating the defending champion on Tuesday.

“If she plays her best tennis and does not make any unforced errors of course I can’t beat her,” the Frenchwoman freely admitted.—Reuters