We all know that it has been a difficult last couple of years for Serena Williams with a mixture of injury and health problems. This has meant it has been difficult for her to find any kind of consistency in her results.
An early defeat in the 2012 French Open may have caused her to wonder if she would ever taste Grand Slam success again. However, that all changed when she won the 2012 Wimbledon singles title and followed that up with winning the doubles title as well with sister Venus.
Now, the talk has totally changed on Serena Williams, and we are now wondering who is capable of beating her. Her age is also less of an issue, because the way she picks and chooses the tournaments she is involved in.
I think one of the things about Serena is how well she is serving. At the beginning of Wimbledon 2012, it was a bit hit and miss. But by the time she reached the semi-finals her serve was performing remarkably well.
The serve is something that the majority of female players have no answer to and makes Serena such a difficult opponent. It also puts a lot of pressure on her opponent's own service game. This is because they know how hard it will be to break Serena if they drop serve themselves.
I think this means that many players allow the pressure to get the better of them when playing Serena Williams. This can often result in double faults or unforced errors, because of the intensity they need to play at to cause Serena a problem.
Serena has had some previous success in previous Olympics by winning gold in the doubles with her sister Venus in 2000 and 2008. However, she will have been disappointed to have never won an Olympic medal as a singles player.
Now being 30-years-old she may feel London 2012 will be her last realistic opportunity to turn this dream into reality. Nevertheless, we all know that if Serena plays the way she can, then it will be very difficult to beat her. And having the Wimbledon 2012 title and an Olympic gold medal would be great preparation ahead of the 2012 US Open.
James Kent has been a tennis fan for a number of years; he is looking forward to the tennis on offer during the Olympics and the 2012 US Open, follow him on Twitter and via Facebook.
