Understanding that she is at the height of her game – and believing that there is no foreseeable reason why she cannot stay there – Olympic women’s singles champion Serena Williams already is looking ahead to defending her gold medal in the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
At 30 now, even if she can avoid major injury, Williams would be quite pass her prime to compete against up-and-coming teenagers tennis fans have yet to even discover.
But Williams insists she will be there, “unless an act of God doesn’t allow me to,” she said.
The 14-time Grand Slam singles champion says she has no plans on slowing down, especially after overcoming health scares that sidelined her for 14 months.
“When I feel I can’t be greatest, I shouldn’t play anymore,” she said. “But I feel I belong. I’m not tired, I’m enjoying myself.”
Williams surely looked like she was having a ball in dismantling Maria Sharapova of Russia to add Olympic gold to her singles titles in all four major tournaments. The so-called “Golden Slam” has been accomplished only by Williams and Steffi Graf.
Williams added to her medal count a day after embarrassing Sharapova. She teamed with sister Venus to win the gold in doubles for the third time in the Olympics.
“In our house,” Venus Williams said, “when there’s a party, whenever we’re at home, times get down, we go down and look at our golds and we’re right back up.”
And with good reason. With her weekend in London, Serena solidified her place as one of the greatest female athletes of all time. No one else in tennis history has won all four major championships, plus an Olympic gold in both singles and doubles.
Adding another medal in four years, at age 34, would put Serena Williams in out-of-this-world category.
