Venus Williams targets French Open title

World number two Venus Williams says winning Grand Slam tournaments means more to her than nabbing the top spot in the WTA rankings and her next key target is the French Open.

"To be number one or number 100 isn't important, but winning Grand Slams, yes, that's very important to me," Williams told French sports daily L'Equipe on Tuesday.

"I'd like to take control at Roland Garros. I'm fed up with losing over there," the American said.

Williams, in France to compete in the Paris Open indoor women's tournament which starts on Tuesday, is a two-time winner both at Wimbledon and at the U.S. Open but has never won the Australian or French Opens.

"I've never been at my best at the French. This year I'm going to start by getting there in good physical shape.

"All year round, most players would be happy to have my serve and my power, but at Roland Garros I need to find a good balance between power and other things you need when you're playing on a clay court," she said.

Williams said that despite never having reached top spot in world rankings, she started each match thinking she was the real number one.

"It's the way I feel deep down. Every time I enter a court...I think 'I'm the best.'"

The American said she would need to play at least 12 tournaments per year to make it to the top and that this year she planned to compete in 15.

But she insisted that there were other areas in her life, such as her studies at a fashion design school, that she was not prepared to give up for the sake of the number one ranking.

"That's the way I am. I get bored very easily and if I spent all my time playing tennis it would start to bore me. I have a great job and most of the time I enjoy it, but I need to do other things in my life," she said.

"I would like to win the French Open and I would like to be number one. But I realise I need to play more to achieve that and I don't know if I'm determined enough to do that."