Melbourne: It’s a rare thing for Serena Williams to play a tournament the week leading into one of the tennis Grand Slams. Now that Serena Williams is at Melbourne Park here, she’s making the most of her time in the Yarra Valley Classic to prepare for next week’s Australian Open. The 23-time Grand Slam champion is just happy to be playing tennis again.
Serena beat Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals. She’s still on track for a semifinal match against top-ranked Ash Barty. She had a tough win over Pironkova at last year’s US Open. Then Serena withdrew from her scheduled match at the French Open because of an Achilles injury. It kept Serena from playing competitive tennis until last week.
Serena played her opening matches in Australia in a long-sleeve top. But it was warmer Wednesday, and Serena came out smoking hot. She won the first set in 28 minutes and made Pironkova struggle for almost every point. The Bulgarian rallied in the second set and saved three match points before Serena finished it off with a powerful service return forcing an error.
Serena was later asked when was the last time she played a warm-up tournament so close to a Grand Slam. The US Open, last year, was her short answer. Then she elaborated.
“But before that, before this whole pandemic, I could count the times on one finger I’ve done that,” Serena Williams. “I’m just happy to be out here in any circumstances. It’s so cool after what the world went through the last 12 months. Very special to be out here,” she added.
Serena won her last Major title at the 2017 Australian Open, when she was pregnant with her daughter, Olympia. She’s still chasing Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
“I guess it will come when it has to,” Serena said. “At least I am playing tennis again… competitive tennis I mean. It makes me feel very happy, very vibrant. I wish there could be many more such days in my career,” she signed off.