Serena aims to follow in the footsteps Pistol Pete

Serena aims to follow in the footsteps Pistol Pete
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

TOKYO, OCTOBER 9: Serena Williams admires Pete Sampras, tries to copy his forehand and she has already followed in the great American's footsteps towards World No 1 by winning her debut event in Japan.

``When you are young, you usually get a player that you want to copy, because you are going to do as well as them, so I tried to copy his forehand and his running forehand, because he has a great shot and he does that very well,'' the 19-year-old from Saginaw, Michigan, said of Sampras.

Williams fired 10 aces and powered past doubles World No 1 Julie Halard-Decugis of France 7-5 6-1 on Sunday to win the WTA Princess Cup, giving herself a 100-percent winning record in Japan.

Sampras holds the same immaculate record in the country.Sampras, who won a record 13th Grand Slam singles crown at Wimbledon in July, won the 1993 Japan Open to become the World No 1 for the first time and reclaimed the title in 1994 and 1996 here.

``Anytime you win a tournament, it is good. I have only won three this year. Last year I had a few more. I am glad that I was able to win this tournament,'' said Williams.

``I will use it, obviously, to move up my ranking, because I do not have any points to defend this week at all. I am just going to shoot up in the rankings again next year, going to the top.''

Currently, Martina Hingis of Switzerland leads the rankings ahead of former No 1 Lindsay Davenport.

Williams' most challenging rival for the top spot is probably her elder sister Venus, ranked third in the World, and with whom Serena captured the Sydney Olympic doubles gold medal.

At the 1999 US Open, Serena clinched her first Grand Slam title faster than Venus, beating Hingis, Davenport as well as former No 1 Monica Seles, to reach her career high at fourth in the World.

It fired up Venus. She has continued an excellent 32 singles match winning streak, including victories at Wimbledon, Flushing Meadow and the Sydney Olympics, also targeting the World's summit.

Serena slipped down to eighth after a meniscus tear in her left knee left her out of the game for two and a half months before returning to court at Wimbledon where she was beaten by Venus in the semi-finals.

``I did not play a very solid beginning of the year. I did not do anything until Wimbledon. If I had better results in some of the tournaments in the beginning of the year, I would have had a better ranking now,'' said Serena.

``I was ranked No 4 once but it is inevitable that I will get back or be even higher than that,'' she added.

Their father Richard, who coaches both Serena and Venus, has said his younger daughter has more potential than the elder.

``I don't like to answer the question,'' said Serena when she was asked about her father's opinion.