United States Fed Cup team captain Mary Joe Fernandez has said Serena Williams is excited about starting her clay-court season early and getting ready for the French Open, despite the world number one having won the least number of majors on clay.
Serena has taken a flying start to her year, having won the Australian Open for her 19th Grand Slam title in the starting followed by another hard-court trophy in Miami earlier this month. Her only loss this year came when she withdrew before the Indian Wells semifinal last month citing a knee injury.
And now, Serena could face quite a challenge this weekend when she might have to play three matches in two days before a hostile crowd on slow red clay against hosts Italy in a Fed Cup World Group playoff.
With sister Venus Williams withdrawing from the team because of a personal matter, Serena would be expected to carry a squad that also features 45th-ranked Alison Riske, No. 57 Lauren Davis and No. 65 Christina McHale.
Fernandez said that she thinks Serena is excited about starting her clay-court season early and getting ready for the French Open. Besides playing two singles matches in the best-of-five series, Fernandez said Serena would also play doubles if the match is tied 2-2 Sunday.
The former American tennis star said that Serena has been playing well and had a really good final in Miami, adding that the world number one wanting to play on clay is funny because the French is the one she's won the fewest majors in but she actually loves clay.
Fernandez said that Serena loves the challenge of it and revealed that every time they have had a Fed Cup at home the world number one asks if they could play it on clay.
Serena has an 11-0 career Fed Cup singles record and is 3-0 in doubles. She played on clay in Fed Cup earlier this year against Argentina in Buenos Aires, where she defeated 209th-ranked Maria Irigoyen, 7-5, 6-0, the report added.