On Fire Serena: The Aussie Open favorite by a mile – By: Matt Cronin

Written by: Staff on 5th January 2013

On Fire Serena: The Aussie Open favorite by a mile - By: Matt Cronin |

By Matt Cronin

Serena Williams has gone into the Australian Open as the favorite to win the title on a number of occasions before, but it’s been a decade since she was considered to be the overwhelming favorite to win the event.

That was back in 2003, when she had won the last three majors and came into Melbourne and ended up completing the “Serena Slam,” when she edged her sister Venus in a three-set classic to grab her fourth straight major.

This year, while she has not had an identical journey to Melbourne, her last six months have been just as impressive. After tearing apart Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-1 to win the Brisbane International, she has won 35 of last 36 matches, which includes title runs at Wimbledon, the Olympics, the US Open and the WTA Championships.

Since her admitted implosion to Virginie Razzano in the first round of Roland Garros and a resulting shaky first eight days at Wimbledon, she has been darn near impenetrable. She has lost just one match, to Angelique Kerber in Cincinnati, and while that was a legitimate win from the tireless German, Williams had played a ton prior to the event and clearly needed a rest before heading to New York. Since that time, she has only been seriously challenged in one match, in the US Open final against No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, which she gutted out in three sets.

She has not lost a set since Azarenka pushed her to the wall, and she literally wiped out the top 8 women field in Istanbul at the WTA Championships.

She did the same in Brisbane, only losing 17 games in four matches. She might have lost a few more had Azarenka decided to contest their final, but the Belarussian claimed that a bad pedicure had infected her right big toe and it was too sore for to risk playing another match.

Given that No. 1 Azarenka has been a warrior over the past year, she should be taken at her word, but two players and handful of longtime tennis industry folks on site in Brisbane told me they thought she was ducking Williams, who is 11-1 against and beat her all five times they played in 2012, and all of those were at important events.

Serena is 31 now and has come through a number of significant injuries, let alone the pulmonary embolism that nearly ended her life in 2011. She is a far more mature person than she was even five years ago, is more polite, nicer and wiser.

She is also a better player than she was back in 2003. She is not as quick, but is she is more refined, has more shots in her arsenal and is very adept at managing the ebbs and flows of her matches.

She also gave credit to her new coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who has been with her since Roland Garros ended.

“ I’ve been spending a lot more time on the tennis court, I think, and doing a lot of things I love,” Serena said. “ I’ve been more kind of relaxed just in general.

So I think everything just came together with the right timing with me wanting to do better, with me wanting to work hard, him being there and having everything to work hard, and having the same mind frame of playing matches for the way I like to play. So I think life is about timing, and it was just good timing.

Last year at this time, Williams has badly twisted her ankle in Brisbane, hobbled into Melbourne and was upset by Ekaterina Makarova. This year, she left Brisbane looking fit and with a world of confidence.

“I feel really a lot better,” she said. “I feel like last year really, really, really sucked, in one word. Being able to win this year just made everything that happened last year kind of worth it. I really feel just awesome about that.”

Given that Williams has not lost to Azarenka since 2009, hasn’t lost to No. 2 Sharapova since 2004 and has never lost to No. 4 Aga Radwanska, it’s hard to think of anyone who can best her now on a great day.

But she promises not to go into the Australian Open feeling that she will cruise to the title, because she has learned in her now 15-year-old pro career that every day is a new day, and some days players come on court feeling like Pavlyuchenkova did against Serena – as if she had never played before

“Every match I play I get nerves,” Serena said. “I never underestimate anyone. There are so many players that aren’t in the top 32 that I can draw in the first round as well. Really tough first‑round matches will be in Australia. Don’t to have worry about me getting overconfident.”

Topics: Australian Open, Brisbane International, Brisbane tennis news, Serena Williams, Sports, Tennis, Wta

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TennisReporters says:

January 5, 2013 at 10:43 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: On Fire Serena: The Aussie Open favorite by a mile – http://t.co/bXdhUg8e ‏#tennis @TennisReporters @serenawilliams
RRice27927 says:

January 5, 2013 at 10:52 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: On Fire Serena: The Aussie Open favorite by a mile – http://t.co/bXdhUg8e ‏#tennis @TennisReporters @serenawilliams
DennisTMDc says:

January 6, 2013 at 3:19 am

RT @10sBalls_com: On Fire Serena: The Aussie Open favorite by a mile – http://t.co/bXdhUg8e ‏#tennis @TennisReporters @serenawilliams