Serena says title is just the beginning
Source: Agencies |
July 9, 2012, Monday
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EVEN at the age of 30, with two years since her last grand slam title and a long list of health problems, Serena Williams is hoping she's just getting started on something big.
Williams won her fifth Wimbledon title on Saturday - and 14th grand slam overall - to mark the culmination of an improbable comeback. With her health restored and her game back to its best, she's not planning to stop here though.
"It's the beginning of a great phase," Williams said after beating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 on Centre Court. "I feel amazing out there. This whole tournament I felt really great physically. So it's definitely the beginning of something great. I hope it is."
The American certainly looked great on Saturday, bossing Radwanska around the court for large stretches of the first and last set. She had a brief lapse in the second, tightening up as the most prestigious trophy in tennis was once again within her reach.
"Maybe I wanted it so bad that I got tight," she said. "Instead of focusing on things that I was doing I was only focusing on things that I wasn't doing."
At least these days she's focusing on tennis again.
Williams was off the circuit for 10 months following her last Wimbledon title in 2010. A few days after that victory, she cut both feet on broken glass while leaving a restaurant in Germany and needed two operations. She then got blood clots in her lungs, which led to her being hospitalized and eventually needing another procedure.
With all those problems, many doubted whether she'd ever get back to the top. For a while, Williams doubted whether she'd ever be back on the court.
"I didn't think I would play tennis again at one point, I just wanted to make it out of the hospital," she said. "And I wasn't even thinking about tennis."
Williams is the first woman in her 30s to win a Wimbledon title since Martina Navratilova, who won at the All England Club in 1990 when she was 33.
But age hasn't slowed her down so far. And if she stays healthy, Williams could soon match Navratilova's total of 18 grand slam titles. Or why not the 22 that Steffi Graf won?
Williams won her fifth Wimbledon title on Saturday - and 14th grand slam overall - to mark the culmination of an improbable comeback. With her health restored and her game back to its best, she's not planning to stop here though.
"It's the beginning of a great phase," Williams said after beating Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 on Centre Court. "I feel amazing out there. This whole tournament I felt really great physically. So it's definitely the beginning of something great. I hope it is."
The American certainly looked great on Saturday, bossing Radwanska around the court for large stretches of the first and last set. She had a brief lapse in the second, tightening up as the most prestigious trophy in tennis was once again within her reach.
"Maybe I wanted it so bad that I got tight," she said. "Instead of focusing on things that I was doing I was only focusing on things that I wasn't doing."
At least these days she's focusing on tennis again.
Williams was off the circuit for 10 months following her last Wimbledon title in 2010. A few days after that victory, she cut both feet on broken glass while leaving a restaurant in Germany and needed two operations. She then got blood clots in her lungs, which led to her being hospitalized and eventually needing another procedure.
With all those problems, many doubted whether she'd ever get back to the top. For a while, Williams doubted whether she'd ever be back on the court.
"I didn't think I would play tennis again at one point, I just wanted to make it out of the hospital," she said. "And I wasn't even thinking about tennis."
Williams is the first woman in her 30s to win a Wimbledon title since Martina Navratilova, who won at the All England Club in 1990 when she was 33.
But age hasn't slowed her down so far. And if she stays healthy, Williams could soon match Navratilova's total of 18 grand slam titles. Or why not the 22 that Steffi Graf won?
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