World number one Serena Williams is back on the tennis courts and training for the Premier-Mandatory Madrid Open which begins next week. The American is the defending champion at this event. She’s aiming to make a rebound from a surprise opening-round loss at Charleston about a month ago despite being the defending champion at the event.
“I feel pressure every day. I think it’s a good thing a little bit because it means I’m still really hungry. If I didn’t, then I would be like, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter,’” she said in an interview to promote the upcoming tournament.
Williams said that she and her older sister, Venus, would like to continue helping and contributing to promote the sport. The top-ranked player was recently named one of the 100 Most Influential People of the Year by TIME Magazine last week.
“If Venus and I ever looked at each other and reflected on what we did, we wouldn’t be here. We would be vacationing on some exotic island somewhere,” she said. “We can’t become satisfied yet, because there are still some things that we want to do. I think there’s some pioneering to be done. Obviously, Venus has done some pioneering of her own with everything that she’s done for equal prize money and things of that nature, so I definitely think there’s still lots of room. We’ve opened so many doors, I have to think about what next steps are.”
Williams has stated after her loss in Charleston that she needed to take a break from tennis.
“I need some weeks off where I don’t think about tennis and kind of regroup,” Williams said.
The American has resumed her training for the event at the Mouratoglou Academy since last week.
