TENNIS- Evergreen Serena hungry for more Slams

With her name freshly engraved onto the
Australian Open trophy, Serena Williams feels
she can play on indefinitely and is intent on
increasing her tally of 19 Grand Slams, AFP
reports.

The American great, 33, scoffed at talk of
retirement after shooting down Maria
Sharapova in straight sets to win her sixth
title at Melbourne Park, becoming the oldest
woman to ever lift the trophy.

Williams has endured her share of injury
scares during a long career, including a life-
threatening pulmonary embolism in 2011 that
sidelined her for 12 months.
But she said modern medicine had helped keep
her going.

"I can play as long as I like now," Williams said
after moving to clear second on the list of all-
time Open-era Slam winners behind Steffi
Graf on 22.

"With technology and stuff, players are able
to play longer. It just depends on how long I
want to play
"I really don't know (how long that will be). I
know I'm having fun, I love winning
championships, I love holding trophies up at
the end of the week and more than anything, I
love to do the work to get there.

"When that stops, I'll probably know that I've
had enough."

She said winning the opening Slam of the
season meant the pressure was off for the
rest of 2015, making the possibilities seem
endless.
The French Open? "I want to win Roland
Garros."

Wimbledon? "Hmmm, I want to get Wimbledon
that one's been eluding me for quite some time
and it's annoying me."

A calendar Grand Slam, which would involve
defending her US Open title? "Oh my gosh, I'm
not going to answer that," throwing her head
back with laughter.

Graf's record is definitely on her radar but
she said it still seemed a long way off.

"I would love to get to 22 – I mean 19 was very
difficult to get to. Took me 33 years to get
here, so I would love to get there.

"But I have to get to 20 first, and then I have
to get to 21. There are so many wonderful
young players coming up, so it will be a very big
task."

Williams said the level of emerging talent
meant she needed to act quickly if she wanted
more majors, although she sent young guns
such as Garbine Muguruza, Madison Keys and
Elina Svitolina packing at Melbourne Park.

"So many young players are coming up and
doing really well, that's why I really cherish
these moments, you never know when it's going
to happen again," she said.

"People are getting better by the day."

The American said the embolism, when she
needed surgery after blood clots were found
on both lungs, had made her determined to
enjoy her career and extend it as long as
possible.