After playing her first match since the 2011 U.S. Open, Serena Williams tells reporters in Brisbane that tennis is not her passion these days.
''I mean, I don't love tennis today, but I'm here, and I can't live without it … so I'm still here and I don't want to go anywhere any time soon," she said. "It's not that I've fallen out of love; I've actually never liked sports, and I never understood how I became an athlete. I don't like working out; I don't like anything that has to do with working physically."
Serena’s father and coach Richard gave her a racket and told her to practice from the time she was in kindergarten. She has a number of off-court interests, including fashion and acting, and she owns a small portion of the NFL's Miami Dolphins.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion also said that she decided to skip the fall season because she was exhausted after summer play.
''I'm going to be honest,” said Williams, who defeated Chanelle Scheepers 6-2, 6-3. "I mean, Asia's so far and [sigh] I was tired."
Williams came back to the WTA last June after suffering serious injury and illness that kept her off the tour for nearly one year.
She added that her older sister Venus, who has been suffering from the autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome, is feeling a bit better. Venus is questionable for the Australian Open.
"She's doing good. She's actually doing a lot better than she was before."
Serena, who was unable to defend her Australian Open title last year, added that she's still motivated, but will not play a busy schedule in 2011.
“I think for me it's all about motivation, as opposed to my skill, or anything else. So long as the motivation's there, it's definitely going to be cool. I'm not playing a full schedule. I just want to be able to do other things that I'm doing and expand on that, and I think that'll help keep my motivation up."—Matthew Cronin