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Serena Sets Sights On Regaining Top Spot
Photo By Ron Angle By Richard Pagliaro
07/17/2004
Playing proficiently powerful tennis, Maria Sharapova seemed to fast-forward through the Wimbledon final directly to the climactic championship point. The 17-year-old Sharapova's 6-1, 6-4 victory over two-time defending champion Serena Williams was the most one-sided Wimbledon women's final in 12 years.
Refusing to wait for an encore presentation of the match, one interested viewer has sat in front of the television tapping the rewind button to review the surprising story line shot-by-shot — Serena Williams.
Watching her most lopsided loss in major final, Williams has seen herself reviewing her notes during changeovers before coming to the conclusion she failed to follow the script she wrote for the final.
"I watch all my matches and I think with (watching) that one in particular I felt so much 'What was I thinking out there?' " Williams said in a conference call with the media today. "It's kind of funny because I didn't do any of the things I planned on doing or that I had done in a few other matches previously. It was really, actually positive because I thought "Wow, I was playing at 5 percent." "
The 13th-seeded Sharapova's powerful performance prevented Williams from playing to her potential and reduced the six-time Grand Slam champion to the role of runner-up, but she insists it hasn't prompted her to re-evaluate her priorities.
"Well, right now my focus is tennis — that's all I really want to do is play tennis, practice and get better so that's my main goal right now," Williams said. "I've been working on some stuff on the court (and) as long as I do well in practice by the time my main goal, which is the U.S. Open, rolls around I think I'll have a really good chance."
The two-time U.S. Open champion said she's eager to embark on an extensive hard-court summer schedule in preparation to recapture the U.S. Open crown she won two years ago. Williams has reached the Flushing Meadows final in three of her last four appearances and owns a 26-3 record at the Open, including a 13-1 mark in her last two appearances.
The former No.1 is convinced she is close to regaining the physical form she showed in sweeping five of the six majors she played in 2002-03 and believes movement and match play are the primary areas she must work on in this summer surge toward the season's final Slam.
"I'm almost there. I had major surgery a year ago this time and I'm almost back to where I was, so that's great," Williams said. "Just being out there and moving the way I want to move (is what's missing), but I think I'm just about there."
Barring withdrawal, Williams is scheduled to compete in five tournaments — next week's JPMorgan Chase Open; the Acura Classic in San Diego, which starts the last week of July; the Rogers AT&T Cup the first week of August; the Athens Olympic Games, August 15th-22nd and the U.S. Open, which begins August 30th — during the next seven weeks. It is an ambitious schedule that would be Williams' most sustained stretch of tennis in recent years — should she compete in each event — and place her in some of the same tournament draws as older sister Venus.
Occupying an unfamiliar position outside the top 10 for the first time in nearly five years, the 14th-ranked Williams said playing such a demanding schedule is necessary if she is to realize her goal of regaining her prominent position at the top of tennis.
"It's just a coincidence (that we've entered some of the same events) and not only that we love to play the events," said Williams, who has entered only six events so far this season. "You know, we need to be there: I need points, she needs points and hopefully we can get our rankings back to where they once were, which is number one and number two . So in order to do that you have to play some tournaments. You know, I wasn't able to play until March so I really had to pick up some tournaments because the Tour made me play some extra ones."
Dismissing suggestions that her setback to Sharapova was a wake-up call, Williams said she prefers to view her run to the Wimbledon final from a positive perspective as a significant step in her comeback from knee surgery.
"I hadn't picked up a racquet in six months (after surgery)," Williams said. "I expected to be back in six weeks after surgery and six months later I'm just picking up a racquet. So, I mean, who's not going to be off? I was pretty much shot for eight months; looking at the positive: I made a really good effort just in general and actually have gone beyond the call of duty."
The 22-year-old Williams, who underwent surgery to repair a partial tear in the mid-portion of her quadriceps tendon of her left knee on August 2nd, had hoped to return to tournament tennis last fall. The initial eight week rehab extended into eight months as questions concerning Williams' commitment to the sport she has dominated began to emerge.
Health concerns became the least of her worries as Williams' world was tragically altered last September when oldest sister Yetunde Price was shot to death in Compton, California on September 14th, about a mile from the public tennis courts where Venus and Serena learned to play tennis. Serena, who has said Yetunde's murder put tennis into perspective for her and reinforced her belief that the importance of family transcends tennis and other career pursuits, alluded to the toll the tragedy has taken on her during today's interview.
"I don't think anyone really realizes what I went through, off the court as well," Williams said. "It really hasn't been the easiest times of my life, period."
Asked to elaborate on the experience of living through the most painful period of her life, Williams declined.
"No. It's too difficult for me to talk about," Williams said. "It hasn't been easy for any of our family."
While Williams will continue to pursue her acting career, she said she's completely comfortable being cast in the role of tennis player.
"I think I'll be regarded, no matter what happens, as a great tennis player because I've made history and I'm nowhere near being finished making history," Williams said. "Myself and my sister we've changed the game and not only that we've brought a whole new crowd of people to the game and that's like Tiger Woods in golf."
Photo By Ron Angle By Richard Pagliaro
07/17/2004
Playing proficiently powerful tennis, Maria Sharapova seemed to fast-forward through the Wimbledon final directly to the climactic championship point. The 17-year-old Sharapova's 6-1, 6-4 victory over two-time defending champion Serena Williams was the most one-sided Wimbledon women's final in 12 years.
Refusing to wait for an encore presentation of the match, one interested viewer has sat in front of the television tapping the rewind button to review the surprising story line shot-by-shot — Serena Williams.
Watching her most lopsided loss in major final, Williams has seen herself reviewing her notes during changeovers before coming to the conclusion she failed to follow the script she wrote for the final.
"I watch all my matches and I think with (watching) that one in particular I felt so much 'What was I thinking out there?' " Williams said in a conference call with the media today. "It's kind of funny because I didn't do any of the things I planned on doing or that I had done in a few other matches previously. It was really, actually positive because I thought "Wow, I was playing at 5 percent." "
The 13th-seeded Sharapova's powerful performance prevented Williams from playing to her potential and reduced the six-time Grand Slam champion to the role of runner-up, but she insists it hasn't prompted her to re-evaluate her priorities.
"Well, right now my focus is tennis — that's all I really want to do is play tennis, practice and get better so that's my main goal right now," Williams said. "I've been working on some stuff on the court (and) as long as I do well in practice by the time my main goal, which is the U.S. Open, rolls around I think I'll have a really good chance."
The two-time U.S. Open champion said she's eager to embark on an extensive hard-court summer schedule in preparation to recapture the U.S. Open crown she won two years ago. Williams has reached the Flushing Meadows final in three of her last four appearances and owns a 26-3 record at the Open, including a 13-1 mark in her last two appearances.
The former No.1 is convinced she is close to regaining the physical form she showed in sweeping five of the six majors she played in 2002-03 and believes movement and match play are the primary areas she must work on in this summer surge toward the season's final Slam.
"I'm almost there. I had major surgery a year ago this time and I'm almost back to where I was, so that's great," Williams said. "Just being out there and moving the way I want to move (is what's missing), but I think I'm just about there."
Barring withdrawal, Williams is scheduled to compete in five tournaments — next week's JPMorgan Chase Open; the Acura Classic in San Diego, which starts the last week of July; the Rogers AT&T Cup the first week of August; the Athens Olympic Games, August 15th-22nd and the U.S. Open, which begins August 30th — during the next seven weeks. It is an ambitious schedule that would be Williams' most sustained stretch of tennis in recent years — should she compete in each event — and place her in some of the same tournament draws as older sister Venus.
Occupying an unfamiliar position outside the top 10 for the first time in nearly five years, the 14th-ranked Williams said playing such a demanding schedule is necessary if she is to realize her goal of regaining her prominent position at the top of tennis.
"It's just a coincidence (that we've entered some of the same events) and not only that we love to play the events," said Williams, who has entered only six events so far this season. "You know, we need to be there: I need points, she needs points and hopefully we can get our rankings back to where they once were, which is number one and number two . So in order to do that you have to play some tournaments. You know, I wasn't able to play until March so I really had to pick up some tournaments because the Tour made me play some extra ones."
Dismissing suggestions that her setback to Sharapova was a wake-up call, Williams said she prefers to view her run to the Wimbledon final from a positive perspective as a significant step in her comeback from knee surgery.
"I hadn't picked up a racquet in six months (after surgery)," Williams said. "I expected to be back in six weeks after surgery and six months later I'm just picking up a racquet. So, I mean, who's not going to be off? I was pretty much shot for eight months; looking at the positive: I made a really good effort just in general and actually have gone beyond the call of duty."
The 22-year-old Williams, who underwent surgery to repair a partial tear in the mid-portion of her quadriceps tendon of her left knee on August 2nd, had hoped to return to tournament tennis last fall. The initial eight week rehab extended into eight months as questions concerning Williams' commitment to the sport she has dominated began to emerge.
Health concerns became the least of her worries as Williams' world was tragically altered last September when oldest sister Yetunde Price was shot to death in Compton, California on September 14th, about a mile from the public tennis courts where Venus and Serena learned to play tennis. Serena, who has said Yetunde's murder put tennis into perspective for her and reinforced her belief that the importance of family transcends tennis and other career pursuits, alluded to the toll the tragedy has taken on her during today's interview.
"I don't think anyone really realizes what I went through, off the court as well," Williams said. "It really hasn't been the easiest times of my life, period."
Asked to elaborate on the experience of living through the most painful period of her life, Williams declined.
"No. It's too difficult for me to talk about," Williams said. "It hasn't been easy for any of our family."
While Williams will continue to pursue her acting career, she said she's completely comfortable being cast in the role of tennis player.
"I think I'll be regarded, no matter what happens, as a great tennis player because I've made history and I'm nowhere near being finished making history," Williams said. "Myself and my sister we've changed the game and not only that we've brought a whole new crowd of people to the game and that's like Tiger Woods in golf."
