Venus hungers for more success after lean period
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E-mail China Daily, January 15, 2013
It's been a long road back for Venus Williams from injury and battling an auto-immune disease, but the American seven-time Grand Slam winner says she's still hungry to win.
The 32-year-old is playing her 18th year on the tour after missing most of the second half of 2010 with a knee injury and most of the first half of 2011 with hip and abdominal injuries.
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Most recently, she had a seven-month lay-off between September 2011 and March 2012 battling Sjogren's Syndrome, which left her listless and drained of energy for years before being diagnosed and treated with medication.
She hasn't won a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2008 but ended last year by claiming her 44th career title in Luxemburg, and opened her Australian Open account with an ominous 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Kazak Galina Voskoboeva.
Asked if it was her best match at a Slam in recent times, she said: "I don't know.
"I mean, the stats looked good for me. I haven't seen them all yet, but I got a high first serve percentage and more winners than errors, so that always makes a good match.
"I don't think my opponent quite got the hang of it. It's hard to play the first match in a major, first thing of the year, and that can be a lot of pressure. I did my best to just close it out."
Williams hasn't got past the semi-finals in 12 previous attempts in Melbourne but she has longevity and is determined to ensure she's still around to celebrate her 20th anniversary in two years' time.
"Trying to make it there, 20 years," she said. "My goals in '95, I didn't even know what I was doing. I just thought I had a dream and thought I could do it."
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