It was the third consecutive game of the tournament where World No. 1 Serena Williams had to persevere and pull through from a first set deficit to stave off elimination. Williams' compatriot, World No. 42 Sloane Stephens, was unsuccessful in pulling off what could have been the upset of the tournament, and eventually folded to the two-time French Open champion, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6.

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Williams faced a formidable opponent in Stephens, who, before the match, had not dropped a single set in the tournament. The Florida native has often been described as the heiress to the throne of the Williams sisters. The Guardian points out her victory that eliminated Venus Williams in the first round at Roland Garros, and her win over Serena at the 2013 Australian Open, as signs of untapped potential.

Yahoo Sports! statistics showed the 33-year old Williams had to survive 43 unforced errors during the match in order to book her ticket to the quarter finals.

The 22-year old Florida native, Stephens captured the first set, 6-1, and came within three points to close out their match as she was leading the second set, 5-4. That's when Williams, with sheer grit, woke up to rattle off four consecutive points to tie the set at 5. USA Today described Williams' comeback victory on Monday as "an insane testament to the iron will of the world's greatest female athlete," as she steps into her 9^th quarter finals appearance in 14 contests in Paris.

Prior to her grueling match against Stephens, Williams had to survive and overcome similar first set deficits at the hands of unseeded Anna-Lena Friedsam, and former World No. 1, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka.

With the win, the Michigan-born tennis star is again favored to bag her 20^th grand slam title, as defending champion World No. 2 Maria Sharapova was eliminated after losing her match to No. 13 Lucie Safarova, 7-6, 6-4.

Williams has previously won six Australian Open, six US Open, five Wimbledon, and two French Open titles since 1999. Women's Tennis Association has ranked her World No. 1 on six separate occasions, from 2002 to 2013.

Tagsserena williams, French Open, French Open 2015, Venus Williams, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Victoria Azarenka, quarterfinals