Thursday 14 January 2016 15:43, UK
Chris Evert says world No 1 Serena Williams must stop putting herself in "dangerous positions" at the start of matches if she is to emulate last season's dominance which saw her win three of the year's four Grand Slams.
Williams, 34, will begin as favourite for next week's Australian Open, despite slight concerns over a niggling knee injury. She decided to call a halt to her 2015 season after a shock semi-final defeat by Italian Roberta Vinci at last year's US Open dashed hopes of a rare calendar year Grand Slam.
However, Evert, herself a former world No 1, believes Williams cannot afford the "lethargic" starts to matches that were a feature of 2015 where, despite compiling a 53-3 win-loss record, she often found herself behind in matches.
At the French Open the American fought back from losing the opening set four times on her way to the title while at Wimbledon, where she went on to claim her 21st major crown, she flirted with a fourth-round defeat by Briton Heather Watson.
"There's so many matches in the first set she played like listless tennis, lethargic, like she was going through the motions with no energy," Evert said.
"She'd get it when she got mad in the second set. She would finally pull these matches out. I would like to see her start out from the first point and play some motivational tennis, then I think she won't put herself in those dangerous positions.
"She can't have another year like she had last year. She narrowly escaped so many matches, down a set, down a set and a break. It can't happen again like that. That would be like immortal for that to happen."
Evert believes Williams, who beat Maria Sharapova to win last year's Australian Open, will find it increasingly tough to keep the chasing pack at bay, particularly the likes of a rejuvenated Victoria Azarenka.
The world No 16, twice an Australian Open champion, breezed to the Brisbane title last week without losing a set and appears to be benefiting from some time off towards the end of last year when she worked on her movement.
"I think she's a player we should be talking about and focusing on right now," Evert said. "She certainly loves Australia. She's won it twice. She definitely played really well last year, but kept bumping into Serena. She challenged her more than any other player.
"She's got to be one of the two or three favourites for winning the Australian Open. I always thought she has a champion's mentality."
