Seeing Serena Williams not winning a single trophy three months into this season is quite surprising, considering how dominant she has been the past 4 to 5 years.
Still, ESPN writer Peter Bodo is pretty much confident the world's best women's singles player will add another Grand Slam title this year and be in position to shatter Steffi Graf's 22-Grand Slam record at the US Open championship.
Williams surprisingly went 0-for-3 in her first three tournaments of the year, finishing runner-up to Angelique Kerber at the Australian Open championships and Victoria Azarenka at Indian Wells Open before absorbing a fourth round defeat at the hands of veteran Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Miami Masters.
These are decent run for any up-and-coming player, but the word decent is unacceptable for a player like Williams, who is looking to establish herself as the greatest female tennis player of all time.
According to Bodo, Williams' quest to shatter Graff's record would have been easier had she successfully dispatched Kerber at the Australian Open. Instead, the American is facing the scenario she had in 2015, which saw her running out of gas in the final of US Open.
Nevertheless, the ESPN tennis analyst is expecting Williams to collect a Grand Slam either at Roland Garros or at the All-England Club, though he's not sure if the 34-year old veteran will have enough energy left to accomplish her goal at the US Open.
"Say Williams doesn't win the French, but takes the Wimbledon title. That's great. But it means she'll go into the US Open swimming in hype and playing under a lot of pressure to break a tie with Graf at 22 Grand Slam singles titles apiece. In some ways, it will be like 2015 all over again [losing to Roberta Vinci in the semfinal]."
"And we won't even get into the potential physical and mental impact the Olympic Games will have taken on her body and mind. It could be another tough, emotional summer for Williams."
Williams is scheduled to compete next at the Madrid Open and Italian Open before kicking off her campaign at Roland Garros.