Serena Williams targets more Grand Slam success in 2018

Serena Williams is already targeting a return to competitive tennis, despite being eight months pregnant and a few weeks short of her 36th birthday.

The 23-time grand slam winner says she has no plans to retire and still harbours an ambition to overtake Margaret Court's record of 24 singles successes.

However, the American says she will not return to the tennis circuit just to make up the numbers, hinting she would quit the sport if unable to perform at the level she is used to.

She told Vogue magazine: "Obviously if I have a chance to go out there and catch up with Margaret, I am not going to pass that up.

"If anything, this pregnancy has given me a new power. It's hard to figure out what the end of your tennis career should look like.

"I used to think I'd want to retire when I have kids, but no. I'm definitely coming back.

"Walking out there and hearing the crowd, it may seem like nothing. But there's no better feeling in the world."

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But Williams, who collected her first slam title in New York a few weeks before her 18th birthday in 1999, admits she will not accept second best.

She added: "In this game you can go dark fast. If I lose, and I lose again, especially since I'm not 20 years old, I'll tell you this much: I won't win less. Either I win, or I don't play."

And her hunger for glory appears to be as strong as ever, saying she took issue with a comment made last year which suggests her success was mainly because of her powerful serve.

Walking out there and hearing the crowd, it may seem like nothing. But there's no better feeling in the world.

She added: "In the beginning, I didn't like it when they said that my sister (Venus) and I were power players.

"I thought, 'I don't hit as hard as a Monica Seles'. In Australia last year, I read that Maria Sharapova's backhand and forehand are as good or better than mine, and that the only reason I win is that my serve is bigger.

"I was like, 'wait a minute, please'. I place my serve. And what about my volleys? My speed? I'm the player who's hitting angles. I'm the player who moves you. I use my brain, and that's really why I win."

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