After winning her first European clay court title since the 2002 Roland Garros with a victory over No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in Madrid, now No. 6 Serena Williams says she has her eyes on the top spot again.
"I don't play to be No. 2, I don't think Victoria plays to be No. 2," she told reporters. "We all play to be the best."
Serena is still about 3,300 points behind Azarenka for No. 1, who only has 725 points to defend through Roland Garros, so it is will be difficult for her to overtake the Belarusian before the grass court season unless Azarenka totally falters and Serena wins both Rome and Roland Garros.
Serena, who has now won 13 straight matches on three different colors of clay — on green Har-Tru at Charleston, on red clay in Ukraine during Fed Cup and on blue clay in Madrid — says she loves the dirt. It was her first title on European clay since she won 2002 Roland Garros.
"It's a big myth because I actually love the clay, I grew up on clay," said Williams, who played a fair amount on clay after her family moved from Southern California to Florida. "My results haven't been stellar, but I have won the French Open, the ultimate clay court tournament. Actually I like it more than the grass, which is weird."