Maria Sharapova’s US Open chances hurt by slow recovery from muscle strain

“When we want to go out on the court, we want to perform better and that’s what drives us”. She defends that title over the next fortnight.

Williams’ athletic build has been a topic of discussion her entire career, sometimes in a flattering way, sometimes not.

While various scenarios are suggested in the men’s draw, the women’s tournament is focused on Serena and her bid to add a record seventh US Open title to her 2015 triumphs at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

“I played like an amateur, to be honest”, she said that day.

It has been 16 years since Williams won her first grand slam tournament.

She’s playing for her fourth Grand Slam in a single season, which no woman has done since Graf in 1988.

“At Wimbledon I was going for the second Serena Slam”.

Williams’ most recent Grand Slam loss came in June 2014, against Cornet in Wimbledon’s third round.

“In a way it nearly degrades those people who don’t get on the list because you have to have only five and everyone’s opinion will be different”, Chastain said. What might be most remarkable is the way she can seem down and out yet turn things around, no matter the foe or deficit.

So just who is the Open’s No. 2 seed?

It has been nearly 20 years since a teenage Serena Williams turned pro and overtook the lily-white world of tennis with her flying hair beads and powerful groundstrokes.

One of the things I love about her, though, is that she still insists on her freedom to be meaningless. But I don’t think it’s happening.

“Not everyone can handle that pressure, but I’m okay with it. I would rather be in this position than another one”. “That sounds really cool”. “But I can say that everyone takes every match really seriously in a Grand Slam environment”.

“She’s been playing at an incredible level”, Sharapova said.

“It gives me confidence to know that what I’ve been working on these past few days and weeks has been going very well”, said Williams.

“It feels good to put that behind me,” Williams said. “It goes a long way”.

The 28-year-old Serbian top seed will launch his US Open campaign Monday against Brazil’s Joao Souza at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where he will serve as the warm-up act before Serena Williams opens the night session.

The first seeded player Williams could meet is No. 29 Sloane Stephens in the third round.

Even with her dominance and longevity, the 33-year-old Williams is not the highest earner in the women’s game.

Williams’ longevity is extraordinary.

Only Grand Slam tournament in which she hasn’t reached the semifinals…. The statistics also indicate she has improved with age. No male player has swept all four Grand Slam events in a calendar year since another Australian, Rod Laver, did it for the second time in 1969. Her most famous win, though, was when defeating Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973.

“Fear and doubt can stop me, too, ” she continued. But I always thought that Nicklaus was even better than his record because he had to contend with a succession of absolutely superb rivals – Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson – while Woods never had such superior opponents. “I mean, I just grew up trying to be the best that I could and do the best that I could”.