Serena Williams could break another Grand Slam record in the Australian Open
Serena Williams is all set to break another record should she compete in the Australia Open tennis tournament in the beginning of 2018.
Serena Williams has won a record 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era and during the Australian Open, Serena will have a chance to join another elite league of achievers- Grand Slam winning mothers.
In the half a century long history of professional tennis, only three female players- Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Kim Clijsters, and Margaret Court - have gone on to claim a singles Grand Slam crown after becoming mothers.
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Serena is now looking to be the fourth on the list and Australian great Cawley has backed her to accomplish this feat sooner rather than later.
“I think she will. I hope so because she’s got so much talent and so much in her to win more tournaments,” Cawley told AAP.
If Serena, who turned 36 in September this year, goes on to claim the Australian Open crown, she will become the oldest mother to win a Grand Slam.
Goolagong was a 26-year old mother when she emerged victorious in the 1977 Open, the same age as Clijsters when the Belgian bagged the US Open title following the birth of her first child.
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The record for being the oldest mother to have won a major is held by 24-time singles champion Australian Margaret Court, who achieved this feat at the age of 31 in the 1973 Australian Open.
Serena gave birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia in September this year. It left her with only four months to get back in shape for the first Grand Slam of the New Year, beginning on January 15. Recently, the ace tennis player had shared a picture with her newborn daughter on Twitter.
Patrick Mouratoglou, who has been Serena’s coach for a long time, had earlier expressed apprehension about the American’s participation in the Australian Open, saying the decision of her appearance in the tournament would be taken after monitoring her progress in the coming days.