Serena finds it tough at the top Kerber a leading threat to Williams’ bid
MELBOURNE. — Serena Williams has the Open-era record for Grand Slam titles within her grasp but it’s getting tougher at the top as the American tennis great seeks finally to eclipse Germany’s Steffi Graf.
Victory at this month’s Australian Open and a 23rd major win would help ease the heartache of last year, when Williams slipped off the top of the rankings after 186 weeks — matching, but just failing to beat, another Graf record.
Williams’ drop to world number two was triggered by her shock defeat to Karolina Pliskova in the US Open semi-finals, which also denied her another chance to better Graf’s 22 Grand Slam victories.
Pliskova was the sixth player to beat Williams in 2016, suggesting that the women’s tour is becoming increasingly challenging for the 35-year-old.
Last year, Williams’ haul of two trophies was her smallest since her injury-hit 2011.
It also took her four attempts move off 21 Slam titles and equal Steffi Graf’s record of 22 — slow by her standards, after she won three out of four majors in 2015.
“It gets harder the older you get and the young ones coming up,” said US Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez, after Williams’ defeat to Pliskova.
“I think she is going to win more and break Steffi’s record. But it’s going to get tougher.” MELBOURNE . — World number one Angelique Kerber spearheads a host of dangerous players looking to halt Serena Williams’ bid for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian Open tennis tournament next week.
The German left-hander stunned the American powerhouse at Melbourne Park last year, upsetting her in the final and ultimately dethroning her as the top ranked player in the world.
That win sparked a memorable season for Kerber, who followed it up by claiming the US Open, where Williams crashed in the semi-finals and has barely played since. But Kerber has not had a good start to 2017, falling to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the Brisbane International quarter-finals last week, then slumping out in round two of the Sydney International to Russian teenager Darya Kasatkina.
Despite this, she remains upbeat as she prepares to mount her first Grand Slam title defence.
“I think Grand Slams are always completely different,” Kerber said.
Williams is already the oldest player in the top 10 and she is 19 years senior to Australia’s Destanee
“It doesn’t matter how you play before.”
She goes into the tournament as top seed with Williams second, meaning they are scheduled to meet in the final on January 28.
Williams, newly engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, heads to Melbourne Park with little match practice after a four-month lay-off.
Having won Wimbledon last year to match Steffi Graf’s Open era-record 22 Grand Slam singles titles, two shy of Margaret Court’s all-time mark, she didn’t play again after Flushing Meadows in September. She opted for the Auckland Classic as her comeback tournament last week but she was bundled out in just the second round, complaining loudly about the windy conditions.
Ahead of the defeat, the 35-yearold made clear that Grand Slams were what mattered at this stage of her career.
“Unfortunately I have the highest of goals and obviously that involves winning Grand Slams and that’s all,” said Williams.
Aiava, who next week will become the first player born this century to play in a Grand Slam.
Despite her recent lack of time on court, nobody will be writing off a veteran who is renowned for her fighting qualities.
Williams entered the Australian Open last year under an injury cloud having played few matches, yet went on to make the final.
Melbourne Park has been a happy hunting ground for her. She claimed her first Australian Open title way back in 2003, beating
Williams is no slouch at the season’s opening Grand Slam, which she has won six times, although only elder sister Venus in the final and has since won five more.
Aside from Kerber, Polish world number three Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Williams in last year’s semi-finals, Romanian pocket-rocket Simona Halep and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza can all pose a threat. Also keen to make her mark is Czech star Karolina Pliskova, who stamped herself as a major contender by winning the
once in the last six editions.
If she lifts the trophy on January 28, she will be one step away from Brisbane International.
Pliskova had a breakthrough 2016, finishing runner-up to Kerber at the US Open and will start at Melbourne Park as world number five after leapfrogging Dominika Cibulkova in the rankings this week. “The important thing is the draw. I need to have some players which I like, which is also important in a Grand Slam, to just have a little bit of luck with the draw,” Pliskova said.
“But, I mean, anything is possible. So let’s see.”
Several notable players will be missing from Melbourne, including two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova who was injured by a knife-wielding intruder at her home in the Czech Republic last month.
Also out is pregnant two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, along with five-time major champion Maria Sharapova, who is suspended until April after failing a drugs test at last year’s tournament. World number eight Madison Keys is another absentee after minor wrist surgery. — AFP.
Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
No other active player has more than the seven won by Williams’ elder sister, Venus.
Williams has only played two matches since her US Open defeat in September after she skipped the end of last season to recover from injury.
She made a scrappy return to action this month, sending down, by one count, 88 unforced errors in a wind-affected second-round defeat to compatriot Madison Brengle, the world number 69.
“I’m trying to think of a word that’s not obscene but that’s pretty much how I played,” Williams fumed.
But Williams starts the season buoyed by her recent engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, and her coach Patrick Mouratoglou is hoping the relationship will pay dividends on the court.
“I think players need stability because everything is changing every day: countries, surface, opponents, conditions, everything,” he told The New York Times.
“And if she’s happy, there’s no reason why it wouldn’t positively affect her tennis.”
And there seems little doubt that Williams’ single-mindedness will ultimately yield that elusive 23rd major win, even if it doesn’t happen this month in Melbourne.
“Unfortunately I have the highest of goals and obviously that involves winning Grand Slams and that’s all,” she said in Auckland. — AFP.