Los Angeles: Serena Williams, feeling ‘new power’ from her pregnancy, is already preparing for an Australian Open title defence in January.
In a wide-ranging interview with Vogue touching on motherhood, body image and race, Serena has said that she had set herself a goal of playing in Melbourne.
“It’s the most outrageous plan,” the 36-year-old Serena, who is expecting her first child next month, has been quoted as saying.
“I just want to put that out there. That’s, like, three months after I give birth. I’m not walking anything back, but I’m just saying it’s pretty intense,” she added.
Serena said during her pregnancy layoff she had kept a close eye on the tennis world, including her sister Venus’s run to the Wimbledon final.
And she also has her eye on matching Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. She was already pregnant when she won her 23rd at the Australian Open last January.
“Obviously, if I have a chance to go out there and catch up with Margaret, I am not going to pass that up,” Serena asserted. “If anything, this pregnancy has given me a new power.”
Serena stated she’s had a ‘love-hate relationship with the idea of power’ as it relates to her game. She is sometimes irked that her skill and strategy seemed to be overlooked.
“As I’ve gotten older I’ve started to feel differently about it. Power is beauty. Strength is beauty. So now on the court I want people to think that I’m powerful,” she said.
But then I am dismayed when my on-court determination is perceived as mean. That is probably because of the colour of my skin. Because I’m black and so I look mean?
“That’s the society we live in. That’s life. They say African-Americans have to be twice as good, especially women,” she lamented.
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