Last Monday, the WTA official ranking came up to the surface having a significant change at its very top. Despite having a poor run at Indian Wells, Angelique Kerber stole for the 2nd time the WTA top spot from Serena Williams. The German had nothing to defend from the 2016 edition, while Serena was unable to protect her runner-up status from the 2016 Indian Wells. Being subject to an injury, Williams withdrew from both the Indian Wells and Miami events. For the 2017 Australian Open's champion, the return is most likely to take place during the clay swing.

also having Pliskova closing the gap between the 2nd and the 3rd spot in the ranking.

Clay swing could be a risky card to play

Serena Williams is approaching to her 36th birthday. Judging her recent history of injuries, an extended clay swing could damage her even more. Last year, being aware of the danger clay provides, Serena made only two appearances on the European red dirt. The first one occurred in Rome, a Premier 5 event she went on to winning after a final against Madison Keys. Then, at the french open, she made it to the final act where she lost to Garbine Muguruza. It was the first time she lost a French Open final, having won all previous three in which she appeared. For the 35-year-old American, the concept of injury has been a constant issue over the past years.

Even so, each time, she came back stronger and determined to produce some of the finest tennis. The latest example was the Australian Open. With no official match since September 2016, Serena stunned the audience with her resilience at Melbourne Park. A race ended with a family duel having Venus, her older sister, on the other side of the net.

The most prolific player in Open arena

The triumph at the 2017 Australian Open put Serena in front it what is a surreal overall achievement. With 23 Grand Slam titles in singles, she topped Steffi Graf and the 22 titles milestone. Judging the current state of women's tennis it is hard to believe that anyone else could ever surpass this limit. It's not enough to have perfect skills, it's rather a race against time and your self-imposed limits.