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.”
“I think maybe whoever wins the Australian Open will have that same thought (about a calendar year Grand Slam),” she said. “There is no way that Victoria or Maria or maybe some other players don’t feel the same way. So I think I definitely feel that way.”
There’s evidence of Williams’ previous exploits all around Melbourne Park, from the entrance where spectators arriving on trains and trams have to pass her image five times just to get to the front gate, to the larger-than-life photo that the 15-time Grand Slam winner sees in the tunnel just before she walks onto center court.
Williams can reclaim the No. 1 ranking by winning the Australian Open. If she does, she’d pass Chris Evert’s mark of 30 years, 11 months and 3 days – set in 1985 – as the oldest woman to hold the top ranking. Evert, a TV analyst, says it’s “absolutely possible” for Williams to not only win in Australia, but to win all four majors this year if she stays fit and healthy.
“I think she’s got the motivation, there’s no doubt about it, because she’s been out of the game so many different times, either for injuries or for other interests in her life, whatever, so she’s still a fresh older player,” Evert said. “When she’s on, she’s unbeatable. I don’t know if anybody can really stop her. But you have to remember that we’re talking Grand Slams in the same sentence, and they’re two-week tournaments and have always provided surprises for us.
“But is it possible? It’s absolutely possible. Do I think it will happen? I have my doubts that it would happen only because she is human.”
Williams thinks it’s possible if she gets back into her zone, where “It feels really calm, like I’m in a really calm place and I’m not panicking, I’m not over-thinking it and not, you know, blasting every ball. I just get really calm and kind of serene.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press