Tennis: Former Wimbledon champion Serena Williams is convinced she can put her injury nightmare behind her and regain her number one status.
The 25-year-old American dropped to 140th in the world last July after a succession of knee and ankle problems took their toll but started the climb back by winning the Australian Open in January and has moved serenely through the first three rounds of Wimbledon.
As she prepared to meet an old adversary, 10th seed Daniela Hantuchova, tomorrow for a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, Williams flatly denied reports that she had given up hope of ever returning to the top.
"I never said that," she insisted. "I would never, never say something so negative about myself. I always thought I could be number one again. I expect to be the best in the world. When I am playing well, I am the best."
Williams, the champion in 2002 and 2003, missed last year's Wimbledon with a left knee injury and is currently battling a hamstring strain but has yet to drop a set and lost just one game in her third-round win over Milagros Sequera, of Venezuela.
"I feel pretty good all around," she added. "I'm playing really well and I'm feeling really positive. I'm feeling like I'm going to get there.
"My hamstring is a lot better, which I'm really excited about. It's the first time it's felt this good. So it's all coming together.
"It's definitely a mental relief knowing I don't have the pain I had before. I'm running better now, moving better, just seeing the ball better, peaking at the right times and playing the big points well."
Williams picks and chooses her matches these days but Hantuchova, who has lost five of their six previous meetings including the quarter-final at Wimbledon in 2002, says the former champion still has what it takes to reach the top.
"Even though she is not playing enough, mentally she's always there," she said. "She's got a champion quality that, no matter how bad she plays, she's always there and she's never going to give up. All credit to her for that. I really admire that."