Power, Passion and Precision: Serena Can Be the Best of All-time - and Now She Wants to Be

Maybe it was last year's scathing, but totally honest and true, column, by former tennis legend turned writer and editor, Chris Evert, that got her juices going. Or maybe it was my national column (which by the way, received an insane amount of feeback) in which I wholeheartedly agreed with Evert on the state of Williams' mindset at the time.

I suspect that it was neither, but whatever has gotten into eight-time Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams it became very obvious with each successive match that Williams played in the 2007 Australian Open, that she is now mentally stronger than ever back and has rededicated herself to once again becoming the best female player on the planet.

Not only did Williams enter the Australian Open as the 81st ranked player in the world - and unseeded - but in dismantling the soon-to-be world's number one player, Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-2, Williams resoundingly put every other player on the WTA Tour on notice that she is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2007 barring any unforseen injuries.

Now, I will say that, when Evert questioned Williams' desire to focus solely on tennis last year - and I agreed - neither of us ever questioned Williams' incredibly vast level of talent. To do so, would be absolutely ludicrous.However, I will once again agree with Evert's assessment that Williams can become the greatest female tennis players of all-time - if she devotes herself solely to tennis for the next half-decade or so.

Now, I understand that Williams is a young lady who has other aspirations such as her fledgling acting career and her desire to design clothing, but Evert and I, and a great deal of other people,readily agree that she will have plenty of time to pursue those ventures once she retires from the sport.

I'll reiterate my point from last year. It's not every day that someone is blessed with the ability to become the greatest ever in their chosen profession.Williams has undeniably been blessed with that type of ability and to see her not putting all of her immense talent to use was a travesty of epic proportions.

However, that was last year and with this astounding win, Williams has seemingly rededicated herself to becoming one of the greatest female tennis players ever.

The fact of the matter is that Williams is so abundantly talented, that she has generally taken that talent for granted - winning seven Grand Slam titles with almost embarassing ease.

Whether she will keep her level of dedication throughout the rest of her career - or even the remainder of this year - remains to be seen. However, I would suspect that Williams now has to be considered a legitimate contender for every Grand Slam event she plays in this season, particularly Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

I know if I were still a gambling man, my money would be on Williams to win at least one more Grand Slam this year if not more.