Zhuhai (China): Tennis legend Steffi Graf said Sunday that Serena Williams can ‘absolutely’ break Margaret Court’s Grand Slam singles title record if she returns to tennis in future.
The 36-year-old former World No.1 American, who gave birth to a baby girl earlier this year, has already overtaken Graf with 23 Grand Slam wins but is yet to surpass Court, who boasts 24 major titles. “Absolutely, yes,” Graf answered when asked if the record was within Williams’ reach.
Court whose career spanned a whooping 17 years is renowned as the most successful player in Grand Slam history and the only player to win 10 or more titles of a single Slam — lifting the Australian Open a staggering 11 times between 1960 and 1973.
“A lot of it is determined on her drive and if that’s what she wants to do,” Graf said about Williams where she is also the ambassador for the WTA Elite Trophy tournament.
“It sounds from what I hear that she’s looking to come back to tennis. You know, everything that she has shown over her career just makes you believe that if she has that in her sights then she will go after it and achieve it,” Graf added.
However, the Australian Open organisers said in October that they were hopeful of a Williams return in January as they raised the winners’ prize money to a bumper Aus$4 million (US $3.1 million).
Williams won this year’s Australian Open while she was pregnant, and has spoken of her “outrageous” plans to play in Melbourne in 2018 just four-and-a-half months after giving birth to her baby girl. The $2 million Elite Trophy features 12 players ranked from around nine to 20.
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