After blowing past Australian Anastasia Rodionova 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the Stanford Classic, Serena Williams says that she believes she can return to the top of the sport. Williams, who is currently ranked No. 169 as she only has two tournaments in her ranking points total, will play Russia's Maria Kirilenko in the second round.
"I want to get back to the top," Williams told reporters. "And I have no patience. But maybe this is teaching me to be more patient. And it'll come, but not necessarily — number one is great, but I really want to be able to do well in the Grand Slams."
Williams also returned the compliments paid to her by Maria Sharapova, whom she may face in the quarterfinals. The two former No. 1s once cool relationship now seems to have thawed and they were recently pictured together at the ESPYs.
"I really like playing Maria and I really admire her and never giving up and developing the confidence that she has," Serena said. "Always just walking around and having so much aplomb, it’s good. I always admired that, it's really cool."