50% Off! Beat the market in 2025 with InvestingProCLAIM SALE

Tennis-Serena ready to return for clay swing after intense training

Published 10/05/2021, 09:08 pm
Updated 10/05/2021, 09:12 pm
© Reuters.
WMB
-

May 10 (Reuters) - Serena Williams (NYSE:WMB) will this week play her first match since her Australian Open semi-final exit in February but the American does not feel unprepared for the WTA 1000 event having had enough practice before arriving in Rome.

The 39-year-old said she felt "pretty fresh" ahead of the claycourt swing as she prepares for the French Open, which starts at the end of May.

"I trained for the past two-and-a-half weeks at Patrick's (coach Mouratoglou's) academy, and then training a lot on the clay in the United States with team members," she told reporters in Rome on Monday.

"So we had an intense, several weeks of training, very intense.

"I feel good. I'm in Rome. I'm going to have some good matches here hopefully, and then I will be at another Grand Slam which always makes me excited."

Roland Garros has been the least rewarding of the four majors for Williams, who won the last of her 23 Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open in 2017 before giving birth to her daughter.

She will probably fancy her chances more on the grasscourts of Wimbledon, which will return with a raft of changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year after being cancelled last year for the first time since World War II.

Players at this year's Wimbledon can have a maximum of three in their entourage and will have to stay in designated hotels, rather than the plush private housing around the All England Club that top competitors prefer.

"I feel like it will be a good experience still," said Williams, who has won the women's singles title at Wimbledon seven times. "We have been through this all last year, having actually sometimes some tournaments a maximum of two.

"So thank goodness that I have experienced it before so I can kind of be ready for it.

"It's definitely going to be different staying in the city. It's going to be really nice, for one, but then it will be, like, 'Oh, I have to leave an hour in advance instead of five minutes."

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.