The women’s portion of the 2009 French Open is developing a clear narrative through the first five days of action at Roland Garros: Champions rise under pressure, while pretenders fall by the wayside.

In the lastest example of an elite player coming through under fire, Venus Williams–the No. 3 seed in Paris–turned back a bold upset bid by Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Down a set and then forced to endure a terrifically tense final stanza, Venus found just enough of a finishing kick to prevail, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-5, in a 2-hour, 30-minute thriller on Court Suzanne Lenglen. The victory sends Venus into the third round, where she’ll face Hungarian Agnes Szavay.

For perspective on this match, it’s worth pointing out that Safarova isn’t a shrinking violet. To understand this, one needs to know a bit about her personal life (nothing too controversial or juicy, of course).

Safarova’s longtime boyfriend, fellow Czech professional Tomas Berdych, is a certifiable headcase on the ATP Tour. Safarova hasn’t made many deep runs at slams, but with an entirely respectable world ranking of 46, the 22-year-old has won at least one match in eight of the 16 slams she’s entered. In other words, a player ranked at the back end of the top 50 has reached the round of 64 half the time in a major championship–that’s not too bad. If Berdych–an immensely gifted but mentally hijacked mess of a man–could ever play up to his potential the way his tougher but less talented girlfriend does, the Safarova-Berdych friendship would have a lot more disposable income to play with.

As it stands, Berdych hasn’t made nearly as much prize money as he should; Safarova, on the other hand, has done reasonably well with the more limited tennis tools she’s been given. With this biographical background in mind, it wasn’t a huge shock that Safarova outlasted Venus in an even first set, winning the tiebreak by the smallest possible margin. Just a few days after her younger sister narrowly avoided a first-round loss against another Czech challenger (Klara Zakopalova), Venus was on the verge of stumbling out of Paris against a surging Safarova. Would the American veteran and seven-time Grand Slam champion find a way to mount a comeback on clay, her weakest surface?

In the following hour and a half of second-round slugging, the Court Lenglen crowd received an affirmative answer: The third seed would not allow herself to mentally check out against a Czech.

Venus found new life in a 32-minute second set–converting both of the break points presented to her–and sent the match into a third stanza. True to her character, Safarova battened down the hatches and–with the advantage of serving first–kept her nose in front through the first nine games, holding five times for a 5-4 lead. Venus–despite protecting her own serve in the set–had to toe the service line to stay in the match.

The 28-year-old from the mean streets of Compton, Calif., never wavered, and actually drew strength from daunting circumstances, as she’s done so many times before between the painted white lines. Venus held for 5-all, and then–with the pressure in the arena mounting–broke Safarova as champions so regularly manage to do at the business end of a cutthroat competition. Liberated by her newfound advantage, Venus then held at love to polish off a well-deserved victory that Safarova forced her to earn.

Cliches might get tired after awhile, but cliches exist because they’re true. In the world of big-time tennis, fewer truisms hold more water than this one: “Champions find a way.” Venus Williams lives on in Paris.

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