WTA Toronto: Serena Williams - "I can't do this forever"
Serena Williams has successfully entered the WTA Tour 1000 tournament in Toronto. At the press conference after her victory against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, the American legend was moody as usual.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 09, 2022, 08:39 am
Who knows how many more times Serena Williams will compete at the Canadian Open. The 23-time Grand Slam winner prefers to take what she can get with her. And that was the record for match wins in Canada on Monday. With the 6: 3 and 6: 4 against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, Williams now has 35 successes in Toronto and Montreal, one more than Chris Evert.
Will there be another one? Serena was drawn in the top quarter of the tableau, round two will face either Belinda Bencic or Tereza Martincova, after which either Garbine Muguruza, Kaia Kanepi or Naomi Osaka could wait. Tasks that the 40-year-old would have liked to take on earlier and with good prospects of success. In the summer of 2022, of course, things will look different. The win over Parrizas-Diaz, who slipped into the peloton as a lucky loser, was Williams' first in 430 days. The last one before that was at the French Open 2021 in round three against Danielle Collins.
Serena Williams in an illustrious group
"Looks like there's light at the end of the tunnel," said a cheerful Serena after her win. "It's been like that for me lately. I can't wait to get closer to that light. I still love to play. But I can't do this forever. So sometimes you just try to do your best and enjoy the moment.”
Incidentally, Serena has also immortalized herself in another category: After Martina Navratilova, Kimiko Date-Krumm and sister Venus, she is only the fourth player since 2000 to win a match on the WTA tour at the age of 40. Will it be enough to win a tournament this summer? Difficult. Because Serena Williams will start in Cincinnati and at the US Open. And only the very best compete there.