19 октября 2014, 10:31 5 мин.

Legends Praise Serena

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Mark Hodgkinson | 17 Oct 2014 16:42

Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Tracy Austin opened up about Serena Williams' chances of defending her WTA Finals title and what the future may hold for her.

"Quite often," Martina Navratilova observed, "Serena Williams wins just because she's Serena Williams."

Can Williams terrify the field at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global, where she will be attempting to win a third successive title, and the fifth of her astonishing career?

"But she's earned that - she has worked hard for people to be intimidated by her," Navratilova, who will be appearing in the WTA Legends Event at the Singapore Sports Hub, told wtatennis.com. "When Serena is playing her normal level of tennis, she knows that's better than anyone else's normal level of tennis, and that takes a lot of the pressure off. Of course, any of the other seven players in Singapore could beat Serena on any given day. But the round robin format gives her more freedom not to feel the pressure. It can take a while for her to get into a tournament. But the last few years she has been ready from the get-go. This has been a bit of a strange year for her, but the way she played at the US Open, it's hard to imagine anyone beating her."

If Williams' opponents are to get the better of her, Navratilova suggested, they must take advantage of any nerves.

"If Serena is a little off and a little nervous, and people can stay with her, then they can beat her," said Navratilova, who holds the record for the most titles at the season-ending tournament, with eight. "But if she gets ahead in a match, it's difficult to bring her back. You have to remember that she likes playing indoors - without the wind, I thinks she's even more dangerous."

In a conversation with wtatennis.com, three greats of the women's game - Navratilova, Chris Evert and Tracy Austin - were in agreement that Williams is the favourite to win the tournament in Singapore and so put herself level with Steffi Graf with five titles.

Evert told wtatennis.com that, unlike last year, "Serena has still got something in reserve at this stage of the season. Serena is the favourite right now for the title. This season, it's been the last few months that she has started to play at the highest level. Last year, she almost needed a stretcher at the WTA Finals - she was exhausted, and yet she still won."

Evert took the title four times is now an ambassador for the tournament.

Austin's view is that it will be Williams, and Williams alone, who will determine whether she wins in Singapore or not.

"For me, Serena is the favourite for any tournament when she goes in prepared and hungry," said Austin, a former champion at this event and who will also feature in this year's WTA Legends Event. "I've never seen a player who can control her own destiny as much as Serena can. If she goes in playing at 100% - mentally and physically - it's tough for the rest of the field. You would think that winning the US Open would give her more confidence before Singapore, but only Serena really knows that. Only Serena knows how hungry she is for the rest of the year."

Williams' victory at Flushing Meadows last month tied her with Evert and Navratilova with 18 Grand Slams, and just four behind Graf's Open Era record of 22. It's possible, Evert said, that 33-year-old Williams could match and then pass Graf.

"I spoke to Serena in New York after she drew level with me on 18 Grand Slams," Evert said. "She's already looking at 19. Now 18 is behind her. So she's looking at 19 and she's looking at playing high-level tennis for another two to three years.

"It's definitely possible for her to match Steffi. That's four more Slams, so that's very possible. I think the reality of the situation is that the women are playing better - the rest of the field is playing at a higher level. And also the players - as great as they think she is - no longer think she is invincible. And also as you get older you have more off days, so Serena will have her off days. So it's possible she will match and even pass Steffi, but I'm not going to say that for sure it's going to happen. If she stays healthy for the next two years, she's going to have a chance of winning those four she needs to be level with Steffi. But, again, anything could happen - she could get injured again, she could lose motivation, she could get married, who knows?"

First, though, Williams will be focused on Singapore, and the chance to end the season on a high. Success at the WTA Finals certainly wouldn't harm her chances of winning her next major at January's Australian Open.

Mark Hodgkinson is a tennis writer based in London. His new book, 'Game, Set and Match', will be published by Bloomsbury in 2015.