Serena set for French Open bid
Sunday, 23 May 2010
PARIS, May 22 (AFP): Serena Williams rates the French Open as physically the toughest of the four Grand Slam tournaments but, despite an injury-hit year, she feels she is ready to win for a second time in Paris, eight years after her first victory.
On the face of it, the American diva is facing an uphill battle as she has played just two tournaments since winning the Australian Open in January, losing to Jelena Jankovic in Rome and Nadia Petrova in Madrid.
But the signs are there that she is out to re-establish her claycourt credentials with several factors whetting her appetite.
Firstly, the French Open is the only one of the four majors that she has not won more than once and a triumph on June 5 would give her a 13th major title, taking her one past her childhood idol Billie Jean King.
It would also leave her halfway to achieving the fabled calendar year Grand Slam, last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1988, with her two favourite events - Wimbledon and the US Open to come.
And if that was not enough, sister Venus is back up to number two in the world, the first time the two sisters have filled the top two spots since May 2003, and they could meet in the final as they last did here in 2002.
Serena Wiliams, who will turn 29 in September, arrived at her Paris apartment early after her Madrid exit and has been hard at practice on the Roland Garros courts.
Her early exits in Rome and Madrid, she said, were to be expected given her inactivity, but the matches she played during those tournaments were enough she feels to set her up for a strong run in Paris.
"I feel good and I don't feel any pressure," she said at Roland Garros on Friday.
"Actually in Rome I felt really good and in Madrid I played a long match and I was able to recover the next day and was actually able to win the doubles there, which was kind of cool and get even more matches.
"I didn't go into Rome especially thinking I would do that well and I felt okay. It really gave me a confidence booster."
On the face of it, the American diva is facing an uphill battle as she has played just two tournaments since winning the Australian Open in January, losing to Jelena Jankovic in Rome and Nadia Petrova in Madrid.
But the signs are there that she is out to re-establish her claycourt credentials with several factors whetting her appetite.
Firstly, the French Open is the only one of the four majors that she has not won more than once and a triumph on June 5 would give her a 13th major title, taking her one past her childhood idol Billie Jean King.
It would also leave her halfway to achieving the fabled calendar year Grand Slam, last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1988, with her two favourite events - Wimbledon and the US Open to come.
And if that was not enough, sister Venus is back up to number two in the world, the first time the two sisters have filled the top two spots since May 2003, and they could meet in the final as they last did here in 2002.
Serena Wiliams, who will turn 29 in September, arrived at her Paris apartment early after her Madrid exit and has been hard at practice on the Roland Garros courts.
Her early exits in Rome and Madrid, she said, were to be expected given her inactivity, but the matches she played during those tournaments were enough she feels to set her up for a strong run in Paris.
"I feel good and I don't feel any pressure," she said at Roland Garros on Friday.
"Actually in Rome I felt really good and in Madrid I played a long match and I was able to recover the next day and was actually able to win the doubles there, which was kind of cool and get even more matches.
"I didn't go into Rome especially thinking I would do that well and I felt okay. It really gave me a confidence booster."