Venus Williams pays enough attention to her tennis to know she no longer is ranked in the top 10. Precisely where she stands, however, is a bit of a mystery to her.
"What am I ranked?" Williams asked on Monday after beating Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-4, 6-3 in the first round at the French Open.
Told her ranking, she asked: "What am I seeded?"
When that reply came, she answered: "Oh, man. Exactly. ... Well, I'll work on that. It's bound to go up."
She used to be No. 1, but injuries have limited her play in recent years, and Monday's match was only her 10th of 2006 (she's 7-3).
Now she's ranked 13th, seeded 11th.
"In my head, I'm always feeling at the top, for sure," Williams said, adding that it's not fun "seeing your ranking going down, down, down."
She won Wimbledon last year for her fifth career Grand Slam title, but she missed time this season with an elbow injury. She says she's finally feeling healthy and hoping to be back at the top of the game soon.
That said, she insists life's pleasures have not been ruined by a few career glitches.
"My thoughts are, `Life is good, I'm happy,'" Williams said. "I've been so blessed with a great career. I relatively have nothing to look back on with regret. I feel like I've learned from my losses, will hopefully learn from my wins. The whole thing is staying healthy. That's the name of the game for me."
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