Serena Williams said in her most recent interview: “Absolutely. I really play for the Grand Slams."?

Don't most top players,except for Safina do that?

I don't see Federer playing in ATP 250/500 tournaments,he only plays the 1000 tournaments where the prize money is as high as 4.5 million,and I agree with the previous answerer that what Serena said reflected the mentality of past and today's top players. Serena is that good,she does not need the tournaments to warm up herself before going into a GS,and even without consistently playing those WTA tourneys she still maintains the no.2 ranking above so many of those players who have played and won many tourneys on the tour. Its her choice to do so anyway,why should anyone bother,as long she knows she still has the game during the most crucial matches.

I'm not defending her,but she did take part in some Premier tournaments,and yes she did not live up to it and because of consistency problems she is ranked No.2,she should know that. If you have won over 10 Grand Slams already,would you seriously still care that much about playing and not playing what event?

That is why she is ranked No.2,not No.1. If she's still bothered by the ranking,then its her own problem,not ours. Moreover she is right,we hate to admit it but winning Grand Slams is the way to leave a mark in history. Everyone knows Pete Sampras won 14 GS titles,but can you immediately answer how many ATP titles he won without looking up on Wiki/Google?

Serena Williams comments echo many "unspoken" comments of many a top player. I remember Ivan Lendl saying the same thing. Everybody knows Roger has 15 and Pete has 14... Nobody cares who has won the most Sybase Opens.

The players plan their workouts and their training to be primed for the slams. Winning majors is the goal of everyone on the tour. The lesser tournaments and events are great regional entertainment but the whole world watches the slams... There are hundreds of players out there that make a comfortable living playing tennis, travel the world, and that are content to make it to the 4th round here, a quarters there...

Serena's biggest problem is that she is so talented that when she is focused she could roll out of bed and beat the vast majority of women even when she has few matches under her belt. Her only real rival is in her head... so I don't judge her for her statements... because that is how Federer feels too.... Do you think Fed would hesitate to take his foot off of the pedal at Gerry Webber if he thought for one minute he was hurting his chances at Wimbledon?

Look at it from her perspective. Each of the GS majors pays the winners a purse of $1.5 million, which is much more than any other tournament, so it pays, literally, more to preserve herself for those tournaments. Every other athlete/team focuses their efforts in other sports. Tiger Woods focuses only on the majors in golf. Lance Armstrong focuses only on the Tour de France, despite a yearlong cycling "season." These are the people that dominate, not because they win everything, but because they consistently win the biggest tournaments.

I do understand your point. Without the smaller tournaments as base, there wouldn't be the big slams possible. So, the top players (Serena is not the only one), who kind of look down on non-GS forget, where they came from and what made them.

You get that kind of arrogance and selective memory in sports, in business and in politics from seemingly successful people all the time. But I would excuse Serena for being just honest and she should get points for that.

She didnt say that she doesnt care about other events..

she just specified that she LOVES the majors, and its understandable..

she says that she really tries at other tournaments but she tries even harder on slams..

like school, you try your best on every test, but on finals, you always want try harder than ever, and I guess that's what shes trying to say..

you kinda took this one out of context..

NO HOW IS THAT ARROGANT YOU TOOL

THAT IS EXACTLY SPOT ON..... BY WINNING GRAND SLAM TOURNAMENTS PLAYERS LEAVE A MARK IN HISTORY\

BY BEING DINARA SAFINA PLAYERS DO NOT LEAVE A MARK IN HISTORY AS THEY WIN CRAPPY TOURNAMENTS THAT NOBODY CARES FOR

SHES RIGHT! GRAND SLAMS ARE THE ONES THAT MATTER ... NOBODY REMEMBERS ROME OR MADRID OR WHATEVER.

It's because she is getting old and doesn't want to take her chances of injuries. I hope she breaks her leg and never play again because she is BORING!

100% for non-gs

110% for gs

oomph generated and stored in her buttocks