PARIS -- At Munich, Serena Williams said that her goal this year is to be No. 1. And, except for her ankle sprain in January, she's systematically going about it. She's enjoying a new concentration, focus and maturity.

	Pam's Picks
	Shriver Former WTA Tour pro Pam Shriver is providing ESPN.com with in-depth analysis throughout the French Open. Shriver, a tennis analyst for ESPN, was ranked as high as No. 3 in singles play. She won 21 singles and 112 doubles titles, including 22 Grand Slams.

So, I think Serena is going to win the final. She's playing better than her sister Venus. In March, the win against Venus in the final in Miami was a huge mental burden off Serena's shoulders. She's serving better than Venus. She's come through some good pressure situations, like coming from behind in her match with Jennifer Capriati, while Venus looked incredibly flat in her semifinal.

Serena has to come into this final feeling a lot better than Venus. She beat Capriati 6-2 in the third set of her semi, while Venus played a strange second set against Clarisa Fernandez. If I were Venus, I'd feel good I was in the final, but that semifinal performance wouldn't give me a confidence boost. But Serena beating Capriati certainly gave her one.

Would I be surprised if Serena lost? No. I certainly hope it's a good, competitive match and that everyone goes away feeling it was worthy of a final. Just having them play together in the final of two of the past three majors is hard to believe. They are the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world. They deserve it. They are playing the best tennis. They are improving.

Serena seems to be where Venus was two years ago when Venus made her big jump. Look out, because Serena could be better than Venus and this could be her big run to start that.

Serena's a different competitor from how she was prior to the Canadian Open last year. She had lost so many close matches up to beating Capriati in the final there. Once she did that, she hasn't looked back. She's lost a few matches. But she hasn't lost leads, and she hasn't gotten nervous like she seemed to before.

Pick: Serena