Williams sisters have no retirment plans

Eurosport - Mon, 26 Oct 14:47:00 2009

Venus and Serena Williams, ghetto-kids turned multi-millionaire senior citizens of women's tennis, go into the WTA Championships in Doha insisting that retirement is not an option.

TENNIS 2009 US Open Williams Venus Serena - 0

In the last two years, the American sisters have seen former rivals Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both quit before deciding to return to the tour.

Venus, a year older than her sisters at 29 and the holder of seven Grand Slam titles, and Serena, with 11 majors to her name, are still such an impressive combination that they have also qualified for the four-team doubles here.

"Singles is something which I usually expect at the end of the year to be here. But doubles, that's not something I expect. So it's definitely exciting," said Venus, one of the eight-woman field in the singles.

"It was kind of a secret goal of Serena and I to get to the doubles here."

Venus lost her Wimbledon title to Serena this year, but her tournament wins in Dubai and Acapulco took her career total to 41.

That would normally be enough for even the less demanding of the players, but not the Americans who are also hopeful of playing some role in the Fed Cup final against Italy later this month.

"Serena and I are playing at a level that would keep us here for quite a few years longer. This is very good news for us," added Venus.

"At the end of the year, I'm feel like I'm ending on a high note.

"I'm at the point in my career where I've been very successful at every tournament just about, almost on every surface. For me it's about obviously playing great tennis, adding to my repertoire, my game, continuing to get better, to enjoy the challenge while being on top."

Serena, the first female athlete to earn over 23 million dollars, said she is even feeling even more determined to keep playing, an ambition fuelled by her frustration at losing the world number ranking once again to Dinara Safina on Monday.

"I'm feeling good. I actually feel way more energized than I did last year, so that's a good thing," said the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion.

"I think as I get older, my priorities change more towards tennis. I want to play more. I want to enter more tournaments. I want to play more doubles. I think my career has been really more focused onto tennis."

Both sisters have been draw in the same group here, but are happy to renew their rivalry which stands 11-10 in favour of Serena since their first meeting at the 1998 Australian Open.

"We could still potentially be in the final if we both do well, so we'll see," said Serena.

WTA Championships Doha starts Tuesday 2pm LIVE on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe.

AFP

Comment 1 - 15 of 15

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. Ghetto ! No other tennis player was born in a ghetto­ according to the writer.

    From Mashaa m, on Tue 27 Oct 7:35AM

  2. HUAHAHAHAHA!!! WAY TO GO, SIZTAH!!! YOU GUYZ HAVE GIVEN­ HEART ATTACK TO THESE PATHETHIC HATERS BY SAYING THE­ PLAN. AWESOME NEWS! KEEP PLAYING WILLIAMSES, GIVE SHIIT­ TO THESE LOOSER HATERS, UEKEKEKEKEKEKE :p :p :p :p :p.

    From Serranno, on Tue 27 Oct 3:57AM

  3. The both of them should retire and take up the offer­ made to them from Disney Studios to act in a remake of­ Cinderella with Sharapova. Guess who's Cinderella­ and who her ugly stepsisters are?

    You have 3 guesses­ the first two don't count.

    From Tong Jin K, on Tue 27 Oct 1:44AM

  4. Serena and Venus are so cool! Love for Serena to win­ the singles and for both she and Venus to bag the­ doubles, that would be the icing on the cake!

    From Vic M, on Mon 26 Oct 9:19PM

  5. The person who wrote this article is a piece of @#$%!

    From Kevin, on Mon 26 Oct 9:12PM

  6. I'm glad to hear that. Since I was a kid, I began­ to watch tennis because of them....They are so­ different. Serena is a fighter, never gives up, she­ shows her emotions more than Venus.....Venus is­ gracious, calmed, acting like a princess.....I am­ really going to miss them when they retire someday.­ Hope it wont be soon....They are the most famous and­ the most successful sisters in the history of sport.­ They played four or five Gran Slam finals in a row,­ simply amazing.....SIMPLY THE BEST, BETTER THAN ALL THE­ REST......Love you girls....

    From Svetlana, on Mon 26 Oct 8:17PM

  7. They need to ban articles that do not have a writer.­ The first line of this article is pitiful. Why­ couldn't they just have grown up poor. Oh no Ghetto­ kids to multimillionares senior citisens of tennis. Did­ Simon write this mess too. He has had such a low­ profile ever since his ridiculous Murray articles(true­ number 1 indeed-what a joke that turned out to be). He­ did resurface last week though to compliment Roger.

    From Rodney T, on Mon 26 Oct 7:19PM

  8. They need to ban articles that do not have a writer.­ The first line of this article is pitiful. Why­ couldn't they just have grown up poor. Oh no Ghetto­ kids to multimillionares senior citisens of tennis. Did­ Simon write this mess too. He has had such a low­ profile ever since his ridiculous Murray articles(true­ number 1 indeed-what a joke that turned out to be). He­ did resurface last week though to compliment Roger.

    From Rodney T, on Mon 26 Oct 7:18PM

  9. I think they have done their bit in promoting tennis.­ They have maintained such high level plays and still­ cruising. Clijsters and Henin wuld bring the best out­ of them in 2010. I hope they play for a long time. God­ help them.

    From Pew Vegas Inc, on Mon 26 Oct 7:18PM

  10. thwe writer had to diss them first and is forgetting­ that Henin and Kim are almost the same age.

    From susan, on Mon 26 Oct 6:09PM

  11. when are they getting maried and have kids or no­ pla????????????

    From rod che, on Mon 26 Oct 5:44PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    As I've said in free-online verse, females should ­ play TABLE tennis, which puts far less stress on the ­ racket/bat arm.

    From David Franks: Walkabouts Verse, on Mon 26 Oct 4:58PM

  13. they are the best doubles team of their generation.

    From jay, on Mon 26 Oct 4:45PM

  14. Great to hear they have no retirement plans. They may­ not be everybodies cup of tea but the tour would be a­ much duller place without them. Personally, I love­ them!!

    From Jude, on Mon 26 Oct 4:40PM

  15. I love the courage and self believe which Serena­ has.That´s why she is such a great champion and­ fighter.She will win this end of year masters event God­ being our helper.

    From BRITISH GUY, on Mon 26 Oct 3:33PM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account