WILLIAMS STARTS IN CHINA

Andy Roddick’s countrywoman, Serena Williams, will start her campaign in the China Open 2013 from tomorrow and her opponent in the opening round will be Elena Vesnina of Russia.

This has been a great year for Serena who has been given the top seed in this competition. The American superstar has lifted a total of 9 trophies this year out of which 2 were the Grand Slams.

Serena has played a total of 71 matches this year and has won 67. This clearly suggests how dominating she has been right through the year.

It’s certain now that Serena will be the no. 1 player in the world at the end of this season. It was confirmed by World Tennis Association a couple of days back.

Serena is a professional player since the last 18 years and this is the third time in her career that she will end the season at the top of the rankings.

Yesterday, in an interview, Steffi Graf who currently holds the world record of winning the most number of Grand Slam singles trophies in Women’s tennis said that if Serena maintains her fitness, she can easily go past her.

Graf won 22 Grand Slams, while, Serena currently has 17 only. But, the kind of form she has been in the last couple of years, winning 6 more Grand Slams is not out of her reach; that’s for sure.

On the other hand, Serena’s opponent Vesnina has generally been considered as a doubles specialist. She has started to concentrate on singles matches since the last one year or so and she has actually performed quite well this season. She has lifted a couple of trophies including the one at Hobart at the start of this year.

These two players have faced each other thrice in the past and on all 3 occasions, Serena has been the winner.

On the basis of experience, form and past records, Serena is the clear favourite in this contest. To pull off an upset, Vesnina will have to play out of her skins.