Serena hopes for a happy ending

Aus Open champion aims to end the year exactly as it had started, on a winning note

SHANGHAI: Serena Williams is determined to accelerate her revival into one of the great comebacks by challenging for the title at the year-end WTA Championships.

The former holder of all four Grand Slams seemed headed for such a comeback when she started 2007 by winning the Australian Open, fully two years since last contesting any final.

That made her the lowest-ranked player to win a Grand Slam title in nearly 30 years. Williams was then at 81 in the world; now she is up to five.

But her year stalled with injuries to her groin, knee, calf, and thumb, damaging her chances at Wimbledon and causing her to miss four American hard court events later in the summer. Although she made a partial recovery in two European tournaments, she then suffered a thigh problem while losing last month’s Moscow final to Elena Dementieva, something Serena claims will not hinder her in the coming week.

“Can you believe I played my third event in a row?” the injury-prone star asked, referring to a three-week sequence in Stuttgart, Moscow and Zurich. I don’t believe I have ever done that in my career. I am determined to make good at the end of the year,” she insisted, and few doubt that she can - but only if all the ailments have receded.