Q & A With Miss Williams

[RJD11]

Q: Do you still have drive to be the best women's player in history?

A: I don't really think about the history. I feel honored that it's even in the conversation. For me, the reason I started playing tennis wasn't to be the best player ever. It was to be the best Serena Williams can be. That has been my only goal. I definitely cherish each tournament more. When I was younger I definitely loved to win, but it's just a different time. I'm playing some of my best tennis.


Q: Is this the peak of your career?

A: I don't know even when I'll be able to answer that question. There's so much more I'd like to do, so many more tournaments I'd like to win. Personally, I don't think I have been [my best]. I feel like I've had a decent year for me. I would have liked to have done better at a couple of tournaments this year. I definitely want to get to the top of the mountain. If I'm there, I want to stay there.

Q: It's been a decade since an American man won a Grand Slam singles title. How do you explain that?

A: That's definitely surprising, especially with such great American men that we've had over the years, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick did a fabulous job of holding American tennis up there. I definitely didn't know that. I'm sure there's some American-made tennis players coming along. On the women's side, too. Not long ago, everybody was always asking me the opposite, when was someone going to win a Grand Slam? We'll definitely have a Grand Slam winner. Hopefully, it will be me.

 

[RJD11]

Q: Do you still have drive to be the best women's player in history?

A: I don't really think about the history. I feel honored that it's even in the conversation. For me, the reason I started playing tennis wasn't to be the best player ever. It was to be the best Serena Williams can be. That has been my only goal. I definitely cherish each tournament more. When I was younger I definitely loved to win, but it's just a different time. I'm playing some of my best tennis.


Q: Is this the peak of your career?

A: I don't know even when I'll be able to answer that question. There's so much more I'd like to do, so many more tournaments I'd like to win. Personally, I don't think I have been [my best]. I feel like I've had a decent year for me. I would have liked to have done better at a couple of tournaments this year. I definitely want to get to the top of the mountain. If I'm there, I want to stay there.

Q: It's been a decade since an American man won a Grand Slam singles title. How do you explain that?

A: That's definitely surprising, especially with such great American men that we've had over the years, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick did a fabulous job of holding American tennis up there. I definitely didn't know that. I'm sure there's some American-made tennis players coming along. On the women's side, too. Not long ago, everybody was always asking me the opposite, when was someone going to win a Grand Slam? We'll definitely have a Grand Slam winner. Hopefully, it will be me.

Serena Williams, who turns 32 next month, seems intent on playing for a long time.

“I was talking to (my sister) Venus the other day and I said I am never going to stop,” she said.

“I just love this sport so much and we were just practicing. It’s just so fun. I’m having more fun than I have ever had.”

Serena has already achieved her stated goal of winning a second French Open title this year but the top-ranked American is still not satisfied with her season despite having more fun than ever on tour.

Six other titles have been won this year by the 31-year-old but compatriot Sloane Stephens upset her in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and Sabine Lisicki stunned her in the fourth round of Wimbledon.

'You know I'm not there yet with the way my year has gone,' she said.

'Everybody is like 'You've had a good year and I'm like, who?''

Williams said she is not satisfied unless she wins every big tournament that she enters, particularly the slams which account for 15 of her 53 career titles - a significant percentage.

'That's me,' she said. 'I work really hard to do the best, especially in grand slams.'

This season, however, her form at non-grand slam events has been dazzling, proof that she is as hungry as ever.

From 2005-2010, seven of Williams 12 titles came at the grand slams. Since the start of 2011 only three of her 16 crowns came at the majors.

'It's more or less evening out, but I am okay just winning grand slams,' she said. 'What makes tennis beautiful is the small tournaments that make you as a player and make you win the grand slams.'

 

[djmm]

Go Serena