If Serena Williams' rivals believe there
is any cause for optimism following her surprise defeat to Kim Clijsters in the
WTA Championships, the Wimbledon champion reckons they should think again.
Williams, who later confessed to feeling old at the age of 21, lost 7-5 6-3
to the 19-year-old in the season-ending event in Los Angeles.
But the world number one is already looking ahead to the one Grand Slam that
eluded her last season - the Australian Open.
She missed the Melbourne event with an ankle injury in January but plans to use
Monday's setback as a spur to complete a collection which already includes
Grand Slam successes at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open.
"I like that I didn't win today because I'm so motivated right now to win the
Australian Open," she said.
"After I didn't play the Australian (this year), I got super-motivated. I
told myself I was going to win the French, Wimbledon and US Open.
"Sometimes for me, I need to take a step back and say, 'Keep going ahead and
ahead.'"
Williams, who took the entire month of October off and played just 13 events
this year, was asked if fatigue was an issue after her intense three-set
semi-final victory over Jennifer Capriati.
"I don't know if it was because of a long match or not," she said. "Kim
played really well.
"I don't want to take any credit away from Kim. She deserved the win and got
the win."
Williams broke Clijsters twice in the first set but the Belgian answered each
time.
In the 12th game, Clijsters battled back from 0-40 to break Williams and win
the set in 53 minutes.
She gained the crucial break in the sixth game of the second set and saved a
break point in her next service game against the American.
"When I lost my serve games, I said, 'Try to win that first point', because
that can be a very big key in every game," Clijsters said.
"If you get that first one, you can work yourself into the game if you have a
few lucky shots.
"There were a few very long rallies and I got (the breaks) back.
"Those are the games and points that you have to try to take and the chance
you have to take. I just kept fighting."
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook