Serena Williams enters the top-10 with just eight tournaments played!
The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams made a return to the Tour last March in Indian Wells, skipping all the action after claiming the title at the Australian Open 2017 and giving birth to a daughter later in September. Seven and a half months later, Williams was on the court again, unranked and without a match for the last 13 months but determined to get back where she belongs. After a slow start at Indian Wells and Miami where she lost to her sister Venus and Naomi Osaka, staying away from the court until Roland Garros where she had to withdraw before the fourth round clash against Maria Sharapova.
As always, Serena saved her best for Wimbledon, reaching the final where she lost to Angelique Kerber in straight sets to make enormous progress through the rankings and enter the top-30 again. Serena hit the exit door early in San Jose and Cincinnati before another great run at the event where it mattered the most, advancing into her ninth US Open final where Naomi Osaka toppled her in that controversial match that caused a storm in the tennis world for weeks to come. At the end of September, Serena decided to withdraw from Beijing and finish the season after just 24 matches played.
Chasing that 24th Major singles crown, Serena was one of the favorites in Melbourne but her campaign had to end in the quarter-final against Karolina Pliskova after leading 5-1 in the decider and squandering four match points! Together with Ashleigh Barty, Serena is the only player from the top that will miss both Doha and Dubai, aiming to return at Indian Wells where her comeback started 12 months ago. After some withdrawals and results in Doha, Serena Williams will crack the top-10 next Monday for the first time since July 2017, despite the fact she has played only eight WTA tournaments in the last year, winning 22 matches and earning the largest amount of points for those two Grand Slam finals reached.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2IbbWOX
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