Serena Williams, fresh from winning her 8th Miami Open championship and very much in top shape heading into the clay-court season, has the tennis world buzzing about the possibility of breaking Steffi Graf's record of 22 majors championship by pulling off a rare calendar Grand Slam this year.
On Saturday, Williams proved that she's still the queen of Key Biscayne after trouncing Spain's up-and-coming star Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-2, 6-0 for the 8th title in her backyard tournament.
Although she claimed that every trophy is of high value to her, there was a feeling in the air that her latest win in Miami wasn't that of a big deal, because everybody knows that she's capable of accomplishing far greater feat on tennis court such as a calendar Grand Slam.
With a victory at the maiden Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne in January, Williams is in position of winning a rare calendar Grand Slam.
Williams, who always wants to take things one step at a time, is aware of the difficulty of equaling what Graf did in 1988 (career Golden Slam), but she never ruled out that this might be a special year tennis fans have been looking for.
"Obviously, anyone that wins the Australian Open wants to win a Grand Slam," Williams told the New York Times. "I've won the Australian Open six times, and I have not done that yet. I'm not saying this is the year or not the year. Who knows?"
The 33-year old Williams remains at the top of her game, dominating her rivals with an onslaught of powerful serves, menacing forehands and stupefying court generalship. Then again, Williams has been known throughout her career as one of the fiercest offensive forces women's tennis has ever seen. For tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Serena's still evolving defensive game could be the difference-maker in her pursuit to winning more than 22 Grand Slam championships.
"She can play offense, obviously, but now the defense has gotten better," Navratilova stressed.
Despite playing beyond her 30s, Williams has surprisingly kept going and going until she finally reaches the pinnacle of women's tennis.