Serena Williams may have won 17 Grand Slam titles – and admits an 18th is on her New Year’s wish list – but she still takes pleasure in the little things.
And little is certainly the word for teacup yorkie, Chip, who Serena says would be her pick if she could swap lives for a day to finally figure out exactly what’s going on in his head.
“I just want to know what he thinks about,” Serena said, face lighting up at the mention of her beloved dogs.
“He’s small, so one of my other dogs was bullying him the other day so he couldn’t eat and he picked up his bowl and he brought it to me and he was like “I want food” and started barking at me and I thought “oh this guy”. He’s just the best; I love him so much.”
Chip and the rest of her dog family, intermittent members of the American’s entourage, didn’t make the trip to Australia this year, and while she doesn’t do New Year’s resolutions, the world No.1 is hoping to bring them home an 18th Grand Slam trophy by January’s end.
“I never do New Year’s resolutions. It’s not my thing. I’d probably never stick to them anyway,” she said while cruising down the Brisbane River.
“I think it’s on my wishlist, but you never know what’s going to happen. I can always try to do the best I can and hopefully that includes winning another Grand Slam this year.”
And if she does win one more major, she will draw level with women’s tennis greats Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
For Serena, who seems to leave a trail of starstruck fans and players alike wherever she walks, the idea of being mentioned alongside those names is still a weird one.
“That would be amazing. When you think of tennis greats you automatically think of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova,” she said.
“Just that we’re having this conversation right now, it’s kind of weird. I never thought that I would be in this position to be compared to such wonderful, great women who have done so much for the sport.”
With one win already under her belt and a firm favourite to defend her Brisbane title this year, the ever glamorous Williams looked relaxed as she propped herself on the bow of the boat, confronting a familiar sea of cameras.
She stepped on court with a new look during her win over German Andrea Petkovic on Tuesday night, deciding that after two injury-riddled Australian summers she would make the trip down under with a brighter approach.
“I went really blonde though in Thailand. I decided I wanted to go a lot lighter with my hair, so I just randomly had this guy do it. I was just like “just take me another level up”.”
One certainty is that if the Australian Open does become her 18th addition later in January, Williams is prepared for her front-page photo.
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