Serena hopes to woo the French fans

Serena Williams resumes her love-hate relationship with the Paris crowd here this week insisting that she has buried the bitterness surround...

Serena Williams resumes her love-hate relationship with the Paris crowd here this week insisting that she has buried the bitterness surrounding her controversial French Open semi-final defeat against Justine Henin-Hardenne last year.

The American was widely jeered and broke down in tears after her loss to the Belgian number one with many observers believing that her hostile reception was a fallout from French opposition to America’s role in the war in Iraq.

After the match, Williams accused Henin-Hardenne of cheating, although she retracted the claim the following day.

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“I am not trying to win over the crowd. I haven’t thought about the sort of reception I may get here, I am just focusing on the ball,” Williams said today ahead of the second Grand Slam event of the season.

“You can’t stay in that moment. You have to move forward and if I was thinking about what happened here I would not have gone on to win Wimbledon.”

“I am just here to have fun and enjoy myself.”

Williams, the 2002 champion here, will be playing her first Grand Slam event since capturing her second successive Wimbledon title last summer.

She has played just four events since returning from an eight month lay-off following knee surgery but won her comeback event by taking a third straight Miami title in March.

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But since then Serena has been forced to withdraw from the Charleston event with knee inflammation and fell to American rival Jennifer Capriati in the semi-finals in Rome.