French Open: Serena Williams can win at Roland Garros, says coach Mouratoglou

Serena Williams can win the French Open even though she "came back too early" after giving birth, says her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion has not played a match on clay since reaching the final at Roland Garros in 2016.

Williams, 36, withdrew from tournaments in Madrid and Rome this month, casting doubt over her participation at the French Open, which begins on 27 May.

"Serena can achieve anything," Mouratoglou told the WTA website.

"She is working extremely hard, she is improving in all the areas fast. I am very satisfied and confident that she will be ready for Roland Garros."

Williams returned to the WTA Tour in March, six months after giving birth, but has struggled to find top form.

She reached the third round at Indian Wells, where she was beaten by sister Venus, before falling in the first round of the Miami Open to Japan's Naomi Osaka.

Mouratoglou says the goal is for Williams to get "even stronger than before", although he admits she was "far from being 100%" on her comeback.

"Serena clearly came back too early," he said. "She was not ready yet but needed to feel the competition, so she decided to play.

"That is the reason why we decided to skip Madrid and Rome as she needed five weeks to be perfectly ready. Then we worked with my team in order to prepare a program for her to get back in her best shape including nutrition, fitness and, of course, tennis.

"So far, things are going very well. She is working extremely hard, she is improving in all the areas fast. I am very satisfied and confident that she will be ready for Roland Garros.

"It was a good experience as she realized all the work that needed to be done in order for her to be really ready."

"For Serena, playing at Roland Garros is something very special as she has not been able to participate in a Grand Slam for a year and a half.

She obviously comes back to win and the wait has been long, so she will probably start Roland Garros with a mix of stress because she will want to do well and excitement because playing those events is the reason why she made such huge efforts to come back."