Headed for the top five
What I have seen in Melbourne convinces me that Williams is back as a force in women’s tennis, and I would have said that even if she had lost to Sharapova.

She may not like to train and she doesn’t seem to like to practice that much, but she has proven to herself and to the world that she can be successful without pushing herself as hard as some other players have to.

I think that there is still room for Williams to get better and play the kind of match she did against Sharapova day-in and day-out.

She played only 16 matches last year and this season she has already played 10, and she has won the Australian Open and raised her ranking from 81 in the world to 14.

She played so little last season that she has no points to defend until she gets to Cincinnati in August, so every tournament that she plays between now and then -- including the French Open and Wimbledon -- will see her move further and further up the rankings. She should be back into the top five in no time.

A big year ahead?
Williams is excited about her rise up the rankings, and so she should be because it means that she can go into the other three Grand-Slam events this year knowing that she will have the advantage of a high seeding.

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She was very fortunate with the draw in Melbourne, but from now on she won’t need luck because I would expect her to be seeded inside the top eight for the French Open.

She is never going to be one of those players who competes every week and even when she was No.1 she did not play more than about 13 events a year. If she can aim to play that many tournaments this year then she will have a great season.

Serena has started the year in great style, and it will be interesting to see how she follows up this victory.

In recent years she has come on and off the circuit, but if anything is going to entice her to play consistently it’s this win in Melbourne.

Winning the title at this major has to be right up there as one of the sweetest victories of her career.

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