Serena sets sights on perfect year in search for new goal

World No 1 already holds all four major championships but is now aiming to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam

Serena Williams is due to receive an award here tomorrow evening as the most quotable player in women's tennis, which is remarkable considering how much of the talking is done by her racket.

The younger Williams sibling is hardly in the Dorothy Parker class when it comes to one-liners. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," she said after winning Wimbledon last July. But before reporters had time to make a note of the pun, Serena laughed and owned up. "That's my Dad," she said. "Sorry."

There is no need for her to apologise for the brutal eloquence of her game, which has subdued all her rivals, including the closest, "Big Sis" Venus. Moreover, she could not give an ITWA (International Tennis Writers' Association) about constant suggestions that the long-running Sister Act threatens to close the show.

"A lot of people in the beginning were saying we were boring," Serena acknowledged yesterday. "I don't know why they said that, but that died quick, that died really fast. No one even says that any more."

One reason for the antipathy towards the Williams family was that their story – poor African-American sisters, guided by their father, defy gangs and guns en route to tennis fame and riches – seemed too good to be true. Another reason was that when Venus and Serena played against each other their matches tended to be accompanied by rumours of collusion.

Serena's victory against Venus, the defending champion, 6-2, 6-2, in the semi-finals of the Nasdaq-100 Open here last March, was a case in point. A large portion of the crowd jeered throughout the lop-sided match, which was completed after 51 minutes. It was only the second time Serena had beaten Venus in seven matches (not counting a controversial walk-over in the semi-finals at Indian Wells the previous year).

Since then Serena has eclipsed her sister, supplanting Venus as the world No 1 and defeating her in four consecutive Grand Slam finals, starting at the French Open last June. The athleticism and weight of shot displayed, particularly in their duels last year at Wimbledon and the United States Open and at the Australian Open in January this year, seems to have dispelled much of the scepticism.

"There's not a day that goes by," Serena said, "that I don't run into someone who says, 'I never watched tennis until you guys came, and if you guys aren't playing, I don't watch still.' So I think we're definitely bringing a lot of people to the game of tennis.

"You gotta admit there's not too many black people who were watching tennis before. Same with golf [before Tiger Woods]. I never watched golf personally. I'm sure a lot of people felt like that with the tennis. People just never watched it until Venus and I started playing. Black people – just a lot of people. People just of colour, people just in general. It does not necessarily have to be African-American, I get that from everyone. So I definitely think we've had a positive impact in tennis, and I think people are realising that."

Serena, who defeated Jennifer Capriati in the final here last year, is about to open the defence of her title, having missed tournaments in Scottsdale and Indian Wells because of tendinitis to her left knee.

Defeating Capriati after dethroning Venus here were key moments in Serena's rise to supremacy. More impressive – shocking is perhaps a better description – was the way she dismantled Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals, 6-4, 6-0, after 59 minutes. The Swiss former world No 1 won only two points in the first four games of the second set, which flashed by in 20 minutes, and hit only four winners in the match.

Sore feet may have caused Hingis to abandon tennis at the age of 22, but the Williams sisters certainly contributed to the wear and tear on her psyche. The loss of Hingis's cerebral play is a major blow to the women's game.

"It's a shame," Serena concurred. "It's tough to play as much as she did and so consistently. It's OK to play that much and not win, but Martina Hingis always won. She just never lost, and it's always hard to play that many tournaments consistently year in, year out without becoming jaded or growing fatigued or just plain had enough. And it's definitely a pity because Martina Hingis did so much at such a young age. She did a lot for the game, and it was fun to see her around. It's a pity and a shame that she feels that way, but as long as she's comfortable with it and she's happy with her decision, then I support that."

Serena's goal is to accomplish a calendar year Grand Slam before her 22nd birthday in September, having already won all four major titles in a chronological Grand Slam.

"Tiger Woods said once that he had all four [major golf] trophies in his living room, so it was a Grand Slam, and that's how I feel," Serena said. "No one else has the trophies. I own them all. So I do own the Grand Slam right now, until the French Open comes around. I'm trying to savour it as long as I can."

Although she tottered before winning the Australian title, Serena has challenged herself to go through the year unbeaten. "Everyone thinks that goal is absurd and ridiculous," she said, "and you have to understand, I don't expect to reach that. If I do, it would just be unbelievable. I don't think anyone can win everything. Even Edwin Moses has had to lose eventually.

"But I set my goal last year just ridiculously high after I did not play the Australian Open. I said, 'Well, I'm going to just go back and I'm going to win the French Open, I'm going to win Wimbledon, I'm going to win the US Open and that's that.' I didn't think I'd actually reach that goal, but I wanted to see how close I could get to it. And you know what? I did pretty well. So, seeing that I have all four Grand Slams, I wanted to set my goals higher and come as close as possible, and whatever happens happens."

Going into the Nasdaq, nobody's stock is higher.