The No. 1-ranked Serena Williams says that despite playing few tournaments this season, she has a chance to win Rome and the French Open once again.
Williams is playing Rome this week after pulling out of Madrid due to an illness.
The 34-year-old has only played three tournaments this season: the Australian Open, where she lost to Angelique Kerber in the final; Indian Wells, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka in the final; and Miami, where she fell in the fourth round to Svetlana Kuznetsova.
She also came into the season not having played since the U.S. Open.
“I feel pretty good,” Williams said. “I wasn't feeling really good for the past several weeks, and even the past few days. But right now I'm better. I will see how I'm doing when I step on the court for the first time, but overall I think I'm feeling a lot better.”
Last year in Rome, Serena beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second round before being forced to withdraw with an injury. In 2014 the 21-time Grand Slam champion won the tournament, crushing Sara Errani, 6-3, 6-0, in the final.
The three-time French Open champion noted that she doesn't need a lot of matches going into a big tournament.
“I have played here and I have played in Madrid maybe one match, and then I played here the full tournament,” said Williams, who has won 69 titles. “Every year I only play one tournament before Australia, [and have] done OK there. So I'd like to think positive. I don't play anything thinking I'm going to lose. I always just play thinking I'm going to do the best I can. For me, that's winning.”