Serena Williams’ stunning clay court season – Tennis Special
Former world number one, Serena Williams was on fire this year on clay courts as she went on a 17 match killing spree before bowing out to the local veteran, Virginie Razzano, in the opening round at the French Open, a major clay court tournament held in
Paris, France.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion recreated her old magic this circuit and went on a 17 match winning streak on dirt. Her spectacular run of form saw her lifting titles two titles which made her the second most active player with the highest amount of titles.
She has grabbed a total of 41 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) titles in her career now.
Williams started her clay court campaign at the Family Circle Cup where she crushed several seeded players before clicking the tournament. The veteran overpowered Marina Erakovic, Sabine Lisicki and Samantha Stosur before triumphing over Lucie Safarova with
a bagel in the final round.
She carried her momentum at the Fed Cup and after crushing the Ukrainian team in straight sets, the American led her country to glory.
The 30-year-old high-spiritedly entered the Mutua Madrid Open and played her best tennis to conquer the tournament. She outfoxed the former world number one stars, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova, en route to the title-round. Williams unleashed her
true form against the world number one, Victoria Azarenka, and crippled her with a breadstick to lift the crown (she crushed the top Belarusian for the sixth straight time).
"I absolutely love clay. I grew up on clay - I played on hard court until I was 11, then until I turned 16 I only played on clay courts," Williams stated after clinching the Madrid Open title. "I actually love the clay but my results haven't been stellar.
I have won the French Open and lots of clay court tournaments, though. It's really a myth about me not liking clay. "
After triumphing over the reigning top ranked player at the WTA Premier Rankings, Williams improved to a 7-1 record in their head-to-head series. She also jumped to number six at the WTA rankings with this victory.
The Saginaw native further stated, "We all play to be the best. We're all out here to do the best we can do, and if that's No.1, that's my ultimate goal. A lot of people feel that way."
The American number one kept her rhythm at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia in Rome and trashed Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva in straight sets in her opening round match. She lost the opener against Nadia Petrova but found her track again and outshined her
to set up a date with the Spanish number one, Anabel Medina Garrigues. Williams squeaked past the Spaniard before registering a 4-0 retirement victory against the crowd favourite, Flavia Pennetta. Regardless of withdrawing from the tournament in the final
four round, the American cracked into the top-five once again.
Williams was bidding to climb further at the WTA rankings and to capture her 14th Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros this circuit. She was leading a set and 5-1 in the tie-breaker against the local veteran, Virginie Razzano, in her opening
round duel. However, she stepped off gas after that exited from the tournament. Despite an early exit, the American lost no points and enjoyed a successful clay court season.
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