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Serena: Unfit? No, but I've a big ass and knockers
Last updated at 23:07pm on 28.01.07
Trophy girl: Serena Williams strikes a glamorous pose after winning the Australian Open
Bashing the new world No 1 into submission and allowing her just three games, as Serena Williams did to Maria Sharapova in less than an hour over Saturday lunchtime, entitles one to a certain freedom of expression.
In Serena's case, that expression was fighting talk - and with a fruity choice of words at that.
Read more:
• Serena makes stunning return to form to leave Sharapova humiliated
• Federer wins Australian Open final
Swinging as fiercely as she had on court, the 25-year-old pointed to the women's singles trophy, the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, sitting beside her as justification of her questionable fitness and stamina.
Walk the walk and you can talk for as long as someone will listen. And Serena was coming through loud and clear.
She said: "I've answered every criticism that I've had. And I plan on keeping answering them. The ones that hurt the most were that I wasn't fit. I felt that I was really fit.
"I felt that people said I wasn't fit because I'm larger in some areas than other girls. I don't have a flat chest, I don't have a flat ass.
"But I was looking in the mirror today. My waist is still 28 inches and I think it's all because I have a large bosom and a large ass.
"If I lost 20lbs, I'm still going to have these knockers - forgive me - and I'm still going to have this ass. It's just the way it is. I'm the same size and the same weight I was five years ago.
"I went three sets with Shahar Peer, and I went three sets with Nadia Petrova, and the next day I practised at seven in the morning. I wasn't tired at all and I was ready for the whole tournament. I was never not ready."
She may rail against the criticism, but without it Serena may not have been stung into action.
'I was put on this earth to play tennis'
Equally, had she won her warmup low-level tournament in Hobart in the week prior to the Australian Open, the inner hunger to succeed may not have been triggered.
As it was, her quarter-final defeat to Austrian journeywoman Sybille Bammer in Tasmania set off a chain of events that led to the eighth Grand Slam title of her career.
Serena added: "After I lost in Hobart, I was so upset. I was crying and just mad, I didn't want to lose. The next day my mom called me and she wrote me upwards of 10 e-mails. I read a few of them.
"I locked myself in my room and then I left and just ran to a local park. I didn't know where I was running. I was just running to get in shape, to stay fit.
"I was running and running and I was just so, so mad because I felt like, 'I'm never going to win another title again. I can't even win a tier IV event'. It was just awful and I was just running. It was like a scene from Rocky."
Williams said she was desperate to secure victory to honour her sister Yetunde Price, who was shot dead in Compton in September 2003.
"Every day I write notes for my match. My note for the final was just 'Yetunde'. Usually I write 'Look at the ball, move forward, do this, do that'. I just had that one word.
"I feel that I'm a great tennis player. I was put on this earth to play tennis. Serena Williams is not a thinker. Serena Williams is a tennis player. I love tennis. I love the competition. I'm here to play tennis and I think that I do that the best. I'm the best."
A full-frontal freedom of expression. Serena is back.
Reader views (3)
I enjoy watching the Williams sisters play tennis. Keep it up. You are doing great in the world of tennis and may God take you far.
But Serena, I saw your quote in London paper the other day that you can't find a boyfriend, because men are scared of your success. Much as its true that you have a better career, I don't think I'm scared. I admire you so much and would like to be your friend and get to know you more. Who knows? ...
- Edem, UK
Please give my e-mail address to the Williams girls. They should write me every week after games or not. I want to visit them one time when I get to that country during holidays, shake hands and feel proud that I am also at the top of the World with them. I love you girls, and keep it up in sports. You inspire my only daughter here at home, Malawi. She is idoling you in her life of sports. She is 12 in form 1 St. Andrews Inter. High School, Malawi.
- Wisdom Gausi, Lilongwe. Malawi (The warm heart of Africa)
You go girl!
It's people like Serna Williams, Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks that I look to for inspiration. These are REAL women that are getting it done! These are real women who are comfortable in their skin and KNOW that they don't have to be a size 0 in order to make their mark on the world. These are women our children (especially little girls) should be modeling themselves after. We need to stop focusing on size and more on what these women are doing to inspire and make our society/world a better place.
Keep up the GREAT work ladies!
- Dorretha English, Richmond, British Columbia - Canada
