LONDON — Serena Williams must stop giving opponents head starts if she is to come anywhere near emulating last season's feat of winning three of the year's four grand slams, according to former world number one Chris Evert.
Williams, 34, has hardly struck a ball in anger since a shock semi-final defeat by Italian Roberta Vinci at last year's U.S. Open dashed hopes of a rare calendar year grand slam.
The American will begin as favorite for next week's Australian Open, despite slight concerns over a niggling knee injury, but Evert believes she cannot afford the slow starts to matches that were a feature of 2015.