Serena Williams admits she still feels pain in her elbow during serving but is happy that she has made significant progress in her recovery ahead of competing in her 14th French Open.

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The world No 1 had pulled out of her last 16 match in Rome citing an elbow injury and said she only started feeling better in practice yesterday at Roland Garros.

The two-time French Open champion opens her campaign against a qualifier and confesses she was initially worried about the state of her injury.

“I’m just feeling, physically, a lot better. Had a tougher time to get ready than I thought, but I have been doing a lot of cardio and getting myself ready in that aspect.

“Then I was able to play a little better today in practice. So I felt like ‘oh, it’s better finally’,” Williams said.

“I was worried about it, but lately I have been getting some really good treatment that has been able to alleviate it and make the symptoms go down substantially.

“So I feel a lot better going forward in the tournament and just getting through it.”

But is it still painful?

“For sure a little bit, but it’s much, much better,” she said, admitting it’s had an impact on her serving capabilities.

“The good thing is every day it’s getting better. I’m just starting to serve harder, so I’m like ‘yes’.”

Williams, 33, was pleased with her decision to withdraw from Rome to give herself a chance to be ready for the year’s second major.

“I think it was definitely the right decision. Last year I almost didn’t play Rome. Ended up playing and ended up winning. Came to Paris and I couldn’t even really practice until like Friday-ish,” she said.

“That was really tough. I don’t take anything away from losing (to Garbine Muguruza). I think I didn’t play great. My opponent played amazing.

“But it’s always good to have a little more practice time before the grand slam. That’s something that I really needed to have.”