{{Serena Williams felt she was close to accessing the sporting “zone” during her emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final of the Brisbane International on Saturday.}}
Williams needed only 51 minutes to beat the Russian in an ominous warm-up for the Australian Open, which begins in Melbourne on January 14.
“I’ve been in the zone a few times,” Williams told reporters.
“I don’t know if I was in the zone today, but I was definitely heading in that direction. I’ve been in the twilight zone before, where I just felt so good I couldn’t do anything wrong.”
The world No.3’s performance was so strong that Pavlyuchenkova said afterwards: “I always feel like I don’t know how to play tennis when I play against you.”
Williams captured the 47th title of her career. She has won 35 of her past 36 matches while claiming Wimbledon, the Olympics, the US Open, the season-ending tour championship and now the opening event of 2013.
The 31-year-old American roared through the Brisbane tournament without the loss of a set.
She said: “I was looking at a lot of old matches on YouTube, and I feel like right now I’m playing some of my best tennis. I feel like I want to do better and play better still.”
Williams said a decision to seek on-court tranquillity after a shattering defeat to Virginie Razzano at the French Open last year had triggered her career resurrection.
“I really started being more calm on the court and just relaxing more, if it’s possible for me to relax,” she said.
Leave a Reply