Bud Collins

PARIS - It's tough to figure out Serena Williams. Maybe it's impossible.

Earlier this year she shows up at the Australian Open with practically no preparation, plays her way into shape, and stunningly takes the title ending a two-year Grand Slam drought and giving her an eighth major. A couple of months after that it's a similar story as she wins in Miami.

Fast forward to here in Paris where the eighth-seeded American was actually pretty prepared, and was playing excellent tennis up until her 6-4, 6-3 loss to top-seeded Justine Henin in the quarterfinals -- a defeat Serena called, "hideous and horrendous." I couldn't have said it better myself. This was one of her career lows.

These sorts of unexpected highs and puzzling lows, these twists and turns that mark Serena's career of late make it difficult to understand her.

Serena's errors included no Plan B
After her win in the fourth round Serena told me point blank that she felt she had the edge in the quarterfinals over Henin, whom she beat in the Miami final this year. Serena won that match 0-6, 7-5, 6-3. Her coming back so strongly after the first-set stinker, and her surviving two match points in that Miami showdown made Serena believe she could take care of Henin on the red clay.

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But Serena never got into the match against the Belgian, whose favorite and most dominant surface is dirt. Serena consistently made silly errors. The Serena of Australia and Miami just disappeared.

It is times like this that you wish Serena had professional coaching. She said she had a Plan B, but there was no indication of what it was. After the match she said with a wry smile that she thought her Plan B " was to make errors." And she consistently made silly errors. Anyone for a Plan C?

Bang, bang, bang just doesn't work all the time. Serena didn't change anything during the match. She just kept banging and banging. She can volley better than she did, but when she got to the net, she just tried to hit everything hard.

It seemed that all Henin had to do was get the ball over the net to make Serena miss. For as much as Serena's performance was a puzzle, Henin played well. There's always talk about the Belgian's backhand being such a great stroke, but her forehand was very impressive against Serena. Henin really went after it. Though she served only 49 percent on first serves, it showed how much respect she had for Serena's return.

Taking court without her fight
Ordinarily, both Henin and Serena are wonderful competitors, both extremely driven in their desire to win not just matches, but titles. But for Serena the spirit wasn't there against Henin this time around. There was no fire, no growl from her. She didn't make any noise. It was one of those unexplainable, flat performances, stranger still that it came in such a big match on such a big stage since she usually plays her best in tight spots in the later rounds of majors.

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Maybe Serena's spirit was lacking because she couldn't get the ball over the net. She made error after error. She had a terrible day against a player you can't have a terrible day against. Serena tells herself she always wants to peak at the right time, but in this loss she never peaked at all.

For all the difficulties American players have on clay, Serena has a fairly impressive Paris resume. This was the seventh French Open for the 25-year-old American, who was the queen of the City of Lights in 2002 defeating older sister Venus in the final.

Her French Open career record is 25-6, but a win over Henin would have not only further defined her career, but kept alive her quest for a calendar-year Grand Slam. There hasn't been one in women's tennis since Steffi Graf achieved the feat in 1988. Now for Serena, it's once again wait until next year for another crack at such immortality.

Looking toward Wimbledon, which Serena won in 2002 and 2003, I wouldn't sell her short. As soon as you do that, she will come back and surprise you. But nothing was more surprising than how poorly she played against Henin.

This sort of loss can cripple some players, but it won't Serena. She's too mentally tough for that to happen. Don't expect her to stay deflated for very long. Serena always talks about how everyone doubts her, and is against her. That helps her and makes her eager to compete. Having them criticize her play in the loss to Henin -- while perfectly warranted -- should just add fuel to her fire.

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