Serena in Ominous Form by Sandra Harwitt Monday, 17 January, 2005 Serena Williams has not lost a match at Melbourne Park since Martina Hingis knocked her out in a thrilling three-set quarter-final in 2001, but she only has one Australian Open women's singles title to her name. After missing the year's first Grand Slam in 2002 and 2004, the younger Williams is determined to add to her 2003 tournament victory, and started the Centenary Australian Open with a convincing 6-1 6-1 win over Frenchwoman Camille Pin. "I definitely wouldn't be here if I didn't think (I could win) - I'd rather stay home. I always see myself as someone that's coming here for seriousness and to win the tournament," Williams said. While Williams claims to have enjoyed playing two characters as a guest actress on US sitcom All of Us, she probably does not relish the dual roles she's carved out for herself in tennis: at times as the most feared player in the game and then as a player who squanders too many opportunities. "I don't think there's a player out there who would see their name against mine and go, 'Oh, my God, yes!'" Williams said. "Like I've always said, when I'm at my best, no-one can beat me. I think that's just the bottom line." Williams re-evaluated her life and found outside interests to tennis - most notably acting and clothing design - and also landed on the sidelines for half of 2003 and part of 2004 following knee surgery. Her stature was further diminished by the fact that she hasn't won a Grand Slam title since Wimbledon 2003, and her only Grand Slam final showing in 2004 was losing to Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon. If Williams' opening match against Pin can be viewed as a message to the competition, it would be that she's fit and ready to play. She was certainly impressive in picking apart the No.106-ranked Frenchwoman's game in only 56 minutes. While Williams did allow Pin to break her serve on the two games she lost, she otherwise dominated the proceedings. As for her immediate challenge, the goal is to improve upon her No.7 ranking and increase her Grand Slam title count to seven. "My goals are just to win pretty much my matches," Williams said. "I think Grand Slams will come with it." --

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