By Matt Cronin, special to USTA.com

PARIS, France - Given that Venus Williams has won nine titles on clay and reached the Roland Garros final in 2002, it shouldn’t be stretch to say that she has strong chance to win her first French Open title just a couple of weeks shy of her 30th birthday.

But Williams hasn’t gone super-deep in the tournament since 2002, when she lost to her sister, Serena in the final. In fact, during the last three years, she looked out of sorts in losses to Jelena Jankovic, Flavia Pennetta and Agnes Szavay.

So why does she think she can finally climb to the top of the mountain? Largely because the draw is wide open, and also because despite her ups and downs over the years, she still maintains a strong belief in herself.

“Absolutely. It goes without saying, believe I can win,” said Venus, who recently claimed the No. 2 ranking behind her sister, Serena.

Venus didn’t play her best in registering her 11th victory in as many tries in her 6-3, 6-3 first round defeat of Patty Schnyder but did take care of the big points, pounded her backhand and was consistent off her forehand side. Williams is making her 14th consecutive appearance at the event and at times has been spectacular, but at other times, has looked like much less self-assured than the one who has won five Wimbledon and two US Open crowns.

She, Serena and the rest of the Americans are trying to break a seven year U.S. title drought in singles, the longest stretch since the 1960s. Serena was the last woman to win the crown in 2002, while Andre Agassi was the last man to accomplish the feat in 1999.

“The U.S. has played well here formerly,” said Venus. “The last few years haven’t been as great for us, but if anything, for me, my whole motivation is to do better. Hopefully the rest of the Americans feel the same way as I do.”

Venus has had a very decent season on clay, wining her 43rd title in Acapulco back in February, and reaching the final of Madrid where Aravane Rezai bullied her. But in Rome, the quick counterpuncher Jelena Jankovic torched her 6-0, 6-1, the fewest games Venus has won in her career.

Trying to get a read on how she will perform week to week is quite difficult, as Venus remains enigmatic, both on court and off. When she clicking, especially with her serve, she capable of blowing almost any player off the court, but when her toss goes awry, she isn’t in a good headspace, she’s slow to cover the ball and she can be quite vulnerable.

But she must be given tremendous credit for hanging in there and still trying to improve, even though she’s in the twilight of her career.

“I'm always working on my game, my philosophy and always trying to understand everything a little better,” Venus said. “I think ultimately I’ve just been playing a little bit more consistent. At the end of the day, whatever it is, you just got to win the point and execute. So I’ve been doing that I think pretty good.”

Venus is in the tricky bottom quarter of the draw, which has its pitfalls, but has nowhere near with the weight of the top half, which features former No.1s Serena, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic. Dominika Cibulkova, who reached the semis last year, could be her third round foe, and either Russian veteran Nadia Petrova, or the red hot Rezai might be her fourth opponent. Her quarterfinal foe may just be Elena Dementieva, a former finalist whom she is very familiar with, but who is extremely tough on dirt.

Somewhat amazingly, Venus still has designs on the No. 1 ranking. If she manages to snare it from Serena, she’d be the oldest No. 1 since 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova in 1987. That would put in her in some fine company.

“It feels good to be moving up the ranks, obviously, when you get to No. 2 of course the next dream is 1. So that's definitely on my radar, you know, it’s definitely great to be there. Everybody wants to be No. 1, especially me, because I’m closer than most of the other players on the tour,” she said with a laugh. “So it means a lot, because day in, day out, all the hours that I put in, everyone puts in, when you get to the top of the rankings is definitely a pat on the back, like this is all worth it. I want to put the work in to be able to get there.”