Serena Williams finds inspiration to be No. 1 in the most surprising place
An abrupt exit at the Rio Olympics and a disappointing U.S. Open has not deterred Serena Williams one bit. If anything, she’s just as eager to keep her place atop women’s tennis.
The world No. 2 talked about her undying passion to be the best in an interview with Yahoo France’s Alexandre Delperier on Monday. The motivation that “comes from inside” is still ever present, leaving her “even hungrier than before.”
Williams won Wimbledon this summer to bring her Grand Slam singles championship haul to 22, one short of Steffi Graf’s all-time record of 23. But the 34-year-old American made it completely clear that the 22 titles are just “a starting point” – another indication that winning large, shiny trophies is far from getting old.
Williams sat down with Yahoo France in Nice for the opening of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, which was created by her coach Patrick Mouratoglou. When Delperier asked if she likes “playing with kids all around you” at the academy, Williams looked around the picturesque setting and replied yes.
But her reason was the real surprise.
“I think this is so inspiring,” Williams said of the academy’s atmosphere. “You see someone next to you working hard and you’re like, ‘Well, they expect me to be a great player so I have to work hard.’ It just feels really good.”
Williams said she would return to the academy to train. That probably means she has no plans to part with Mouratoglou, who has coached Williams since 2012, a stretch that has seen her capture nine major singles titles.
