Sport
Serena Williams set her eyes on the Grand Slams in 2013
Serena Williams at US Open. PHOTO/AFP
No woman since had even won back-to-back Grand Slam tournaments in the same year until Williams won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.
Williams now appears to be poised for another dominant run, one that has her entertaining thoughts of a calendar year Grand Slam in 2013, starting with the Australian Open on Monday.
“I think for me, absolutely,” Williams replied when asked if a Grand Slam is possible this year.
Williams cites one stinging loss in Paris as the motivation behind her recent string of success.
After a shocking upset loss to Virginie Razzano, then ranked No. 111, at the French Open last May, her only first-round defeat in a Grand Slam in 14 seasons on the tour, Williams rebounded to win titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the season-ending WTA Championships.
She finished 2012 with a 58-4 record, losing only once after June, and with a title at the Brisbane International last week has extended her run to 35 wins in her last 36 matches.
In that time, she has beaten No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka four times, including in the U.S. Open final in which she saved two match points. She was 5-0 against Azarenka in 2012 and is 11-1 against her overall. “Yeah, but I also lost in the first round of a Grand Slam and she didn’t,” Williams said. “I think that’s what really affected me.”
