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| serena |
Serena Williams thinks her best years may still be ahead of her at the age of 31.
She overcame stubborn resistance from
defending champion Maria Sharapova in the French Open final Saturday to
clinch her 16th Grand Slam title, beating the Russian 6-4, 6-4 and
extending her own winning streak to 31 matches.
‘’I want to go out in my peak. That’s my
goal. But have I peaked yet?’’ Williams said. ‘’I definitely want to
continue my journey to get a few more.’’
Williams has some way to go before
retiring, then, and a long way to go to match Australian Margaret
Court’s 24 major titles. But she will catch Martina Navratilova and
Chris Evert by the end of the year if she wins Wimbledon and the U.S.
Open.
That would then leave Helen Wills Moody (19), Steffi Graf (22) and Court – who may just be a little too far off to catch.
‘’I always said that I felt like I have
never played my best tennis. I have said that for years, that I feel
like I can always do better and play better,’’ Williams said. ‘’The day I
feel that I cannot improve, it’s going to be a problem for me. I’m
going to have to debate whether I should keep playing. But I feel like
as of know I can do a lot of things better.’’
Williams’ elation on clinching her
second French Open title almost made up for her despondency after her
shocking first-round loss to 111th-ranked Virgine Razzano at Roland
Garros last year.
‘’I’m still a little bit upset about that,’’ Williams said. ‘’If I lose all hell breaks loose, literally.’’
