Like Roger Federer, Serena Williams seems to have figured out a great deal when it comes to sports longevity. The 35-years-old player won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the Australian taking the lead in an insane race counting the largest number of Majors won in the Open Era. Now, Steffi Graf, another legendary player, lies down to the 2nd spot in this race with 22 titles. Since Australian Open final against her older sister Venus, Serena kept herself off the tennis court. But she is set to return on the WTA circuit next week at Indian Wells, a Premier Mandatory event with a special emotional load for the American tennis player.
Indian Wells' boycott
It was the year of 1999 when Serena grabbed her maiden title at Indian Wells at the end of a match with Steffi Graf. Her 2nd title came two years later, in 2001. In 2001, a huge scandal emerged over some match-fixing eventually unproved allegations between the Williams sisters. Despite winning the 2001 women's singles, Serena chose not to play anymore at this tournament. In 2015, 14 years later after the incident, Serena made her comeback and had a decent run which ended in the semis where she was forced to withdrew due to an injury. Last year, she went all the way to the final but an enthusiast Viktoria Azarenka outshined her.
For her career, Indian Wells still means a lot as she won one of her first big tournament here in 1999 months before her maiden Grand Slam.
Now, at 35 years of age, it would be nice for her to have another bit of glory beneath the Californian son.
Kerber is closing the gap again
Regarding the WTA ranking and its battle for supremacy, Angelique Kerber was close to top Serena last week. The German failed but she was 2 matches away from regaining the world no. 1 spot.
The German is expected to keep on forcing on this matter. She has few points to defend during the North American outdoor swing, while Serena's burden is a final at Indian Wells and then a 4th round appearance in Miami. Of course, there is also Pliskova who has been in a firing position lately.
