ROME ā Forget all that speculation about Serena Williams considering retirement after her emotional hand-to-heart gesture upon her Australian Open exit three months ago.
While Williams has not played since losing to Naomi Osaka in the Melbourne semifinals in February, she has been practicing āvery intenselyā on clay courts and is ready to āstart freshā in her pursuit of Margaret Courtās record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
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Preparing to return at this weekās Italian Open to gear up for Roland Garros later this month, Williams on Monday detailed her recent training regimen.
There was a block of time on clay courts back home in the United States followed by 2Ā½ weeks on the red dirt at the French academy run by her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou.
āSo we had an intense several weeks of training ā very intense,ā Williams said. āI feel good. ... Iām going to have some good matches here hopefully, and then I will be at another Grand Slam, which always makes me excited. So I think either way Iāll be ready.ā
The 39-year-old Williams, who only needs one more Grand Slam title to match Court's record, added that her fans shouldnāt read too much into the lack of tennis information she shares on social media.
āI donāt do a lot of sport content, so I do feel like people are wondering if Iām playing, and I have to say I always am, you just donāt see it,ā she said. āI donāt show what I do. I donāt always show my cards.ā
Williams, a four-time champion in Rome, will face either French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska or German qualifier Laura Siegemund in her opening match at the Foro Italico. Sheās in the same quarter of the draw as Osaka and has a first-round bye.
āItās good to start fresh but itās also hard to start fresh,ā Williams said.
Williams was also asked if she will play at the Tokyo Olympics if coronavirus protocols mean she canāt bring her 3-year-old daughter into Japan.
āI havenāt spent 24 hours without her, so that kind of answers the question itself,ā Williams said. āWeāre best friends.
āI havenāt really thought much about Tokyo, because it was supposed to be last year and now itās this year, and then there is this pandemic and there is so much to think about,ā she added. āThen there is the Grand Slams. Itās just a lot. So I have really been taking it one day at a time to a fault, and I definitely need to figure out my next moves.ā
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