No Greta Garbo
Serena Williams warned her punch-drunk rivals that she is still to realise her potential and that retirement is not on her agenda as she targets adding to her 16 Grand Slam titles.
The 31-year-old American world number one defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 to capture her second Roland Garros on Saturday, 11 years after her first.
But if her flagging rivals on the tour were desperately hoping that Williams was contemplating quitting, then she told them to think again.
Was she pondering following the example of Greta Garbo, another American diva of a different age and culture who quit Hollywood at the age of 35, at the peak of her powers?
"Wow, what an analogy, me and Greta Garbo. I definitely want to go out in my peak. That's my goal. But have I peaked yet?" Williams teased her audience.
The evidence suggests that as long as she remains fit and motivated into her third decade on the tour, the likes of Sharapova and world number three Victoria Azarenka, the only two who can match the American for power, will continue to have their work cut out.
"I'm really relaxed. I really enjoy every moment that I'm out there. I always said that I felt like I have never played my best tennis," added Williams, the oldest winner in Paris in the Open era.
"I have said that for years, that I feel like I can always do better and play better and I have always wanted to reach that level. Maybe I'm just trying to get there."
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