Her next challenge comes at the Australian Open, which starts Monday with Williams seeking her 18th Grand Slam title — an accomplishment that would match Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.
"It would mean a lot to be on the same level as such great players," Williams said in a pre-tournament news conference Saturday, quickly adding a dash of humility. "I still have a lot of work to do. I obviously want to reach that level, but I'm not there yet."
"Hopefully, I'll get there," she added.
The No. 1-ranked, No. 1-seeded player is entering the new season after a spectacular year. In 2013, Williams won 78 of her 82 matches including the French Open and the U.S. Open. She earned more than $12 million in prize money, a record for women's tennis.
At 32, an age where most professional players are in decline, Williams is playing the best tennis of her career, says Navratilova, who predicts that Williams will win in Melbourne and go on to eclipse Steffi Graf's 22 major titles in the Open era.
"If she can stay healthy, there's no doubt she can go into the 20s. The sky is the limit," Navratilova said earlier this week.
In terms of Grand Slam titles, no woman playing professional tennis today comes close. In a distant second place is Williams' big sister, Venus, who won seven major titles during a career that is now waning because of age, injuries and an autoimmune disease that saps her energy. Venus' last Grand Slam win came at Wimbledon in 2008.
No. 2 Maria Sharapova, a four-time Grand Slam winner, is coming back after playing just one post-Wimbledon match in 2013 due to hip and shoulder injuries.
She sat out the last two months of the 2013 season and says she is still nursing her shoulder with "precautionary" anti-inflammatories at times.
"I'm happy to be back playing a Grand Slam," said Sharapova, who tore her rotator cuff in two places in 2008, requiring surgery that kept her off the tour for nearly a year. "I'm happy to get myself back in form and really start well here."
The player who is considered the greatest threat to Williams is No. 2 Victoria Azarenka, the two-time Australian Open defending champion. Williams has defeated Azarenka in 14 of their 17 matches — but Azarenka has excelled more recently in Melbourne where Serena has won five titles but none since 2010.
Asked why she has stumbled in Melbourne in recent years, Williams half-joked: "I just wasn't able to stay on two feet. Literally."
Last year, Williams tumbled to the court in her first-round match after turning her right ankle. She was then upset in the quarterfinals by Sloane Stephens.
"I've been doing a lot of exercises for my ankles and trying to make sure that they're pretty stabilized," saidWilliams.
Williams got a strong start to the new season, with back-to-back wins over Sharapova and Azarenka earlier this month in Brisbane. She beat Sharapova in the semifinals and overcame Azarenka in the final.
In Melbourne, Williams will only get the chance to play one of them. Azarenka and Sharapova are on the opposite side of the draw from Williams and could end up playing each other in the semifinals.
Sharapova's first-round match is against Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Tuesday, when Azarenka faces Johanna Larsson of Sweden.
Williams has 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur and two-time Australian finalist Li Na in her half of the draw.
She starts her Australian Open campaign Monday against 153rd-ranked Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty, who was trying to look on the bright side about the match.
"I'm just going to go out there and enjoy it," said Barty, who is 17 and ranked 153rd. "Not every day do you get the opportunity to play the No. 1 player in the world and one of the greatest champions of all time. I'm really excited for the challenge."
Barty is bound to have rowdy home crowd support as she steps onto center court against the world's top player.
"Obviously they'll want Ashleigh to win, (and want) her to do well," Williams said. "Under any other circumstances. I'd probably be rooting for her as well."
Here are the first-round matches. The Australian Open runs Jan. 13-26 at Melbourne Park. Note: w-wild card; q-qualifier; l-lucky loser
Serena Williams (1), United States, vs. w-Ashleigh Barty, Australia
Vesna Dolonc, Serbia, vs. Lara Arruabarrena, Spain
w-Pauline Parmentier, France, vs. Karolina Pliskova, Czech Republic
q-Heather Watson, Britain, vs. Daniela Hantuchova (31), Slovakia
Sam Stosur (17), Australia, vs. Klara Zakopalova, Czech Republic
Tsvetana Pironkova, Bulgaria, vs. Silvia Soler-Espinosa, Spain
Annika Beck, Germany, vs. Petra Martic, Croatia
Kiki Bertens, Netherlands, vs. Ana Ivanovic (14), Serbia
Roberta Vinci (12), Italy, vs. Zheng Jie, China
Patricia Mayr-Achleitner, Austria, vs. Madison Keys, United States
w-Casey Dellacqua, Australia, vs. Vera Zvonareva, Russia
Laura Robson, Britain, vs. Kirsten Flipkens (18), Belgium
Eugenie Bouchard (30), Canada, vs. w-Tang Hao Chen, China
Alison Van Uytvanck, Belgium, vs. Virginie Razzano, France
w-Sachia Vickery, United States, vs. Lauren Davis, United States
Julia Goerges, Germany, vs. Sara Errani (7), Italy
Li Na (4), China, vs. q-Ana Konjuh, Croatia
q-Belinda Bencic, Switzerland, vs. Kimiko Date-Krumm, Japan
Donna Vekic, Croatia, vs. q-Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic
Julia Glushko, Israel, vs. Lucie Safarova (26), Czech Republic
Ekaterina Makarova (22), Russia, vs. Venus Williams, United States
Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain, vs. l-Irina Falconi, United States
Shahar Peer, Israel, vs. Monica Niculescu, Romania
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Croatia, vs. Sabine Lisicki (15), Germany
Angelique Kerber (9), Germany, vs. w-Jarmila Gajdosova, Australia
Caroline Garcia, France, vs. q-Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia
Dinah Pfizenmaier, Germany, vs. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium
Alison Riske, United States, vs. Elena Vesnina (23), Russia
Flavia Pennetta (28), Italy, vs. Alexandra Cadantu, Romania
Monica Puig, Puerto Rico, vs. q-Anna Tatishvili, Georgia
Zhang Shuai, China, vs. Mona Barthel, Germany
Luksika Kumkhum, Thailand, vs. Petra Kvitova (6), Czech Republic
Jelena Jankovic (8), Serbia, vs. Misaki Doi, Japan
Nadiya Kichenok, Ukraine, vs. Ayumi Morita, Japan
Kurumi Nara, Japan, vs. Peng Shuai, China
Andrea Petkovic, Germany, vs. Magdalena Rybarikova (32), Slovakia
Sorana Cirstea (21), Romania, vs. Marina Erakovic, New Zealand
q-Zarina Diyas, Kazakhstan, vs. q-Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic
Lesia Tsurenko, Ukraine, vs. Varvara Lepchenko, United States
q-Katarzyna Piter, Poland, vs. Simona Halep (11), Romania
Carla Suarez Navarro (16), Spain, vs. Vania King, United States
Galina Voskoboeva, Kazakhstan, vs. q-Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania
Kristina Mladenovic, France, vs. Stefanie Voegele, Switzerland
Francesca Schiavone, Italy, vs. Dominika Cibulkova (20), Slovakia
Alize Cornet (25), France, vs. Polona Hercog, Slovenia
Camila Giorgi, Italy, vs. w-Storm Sanders, Australia
Paula Ormaechea, Argentina, vs. Karin Knapp, Italy
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States, vs. Maria Sharapova (3), Russia
Agnieszka Radwanska (5), Poland, vs. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan
Olga Govortsova, Belarus, vs. q-Duan Ying-Ying, China
q-Carina Witthoeft, Germany, vs. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg
Teliana Pereira, Brazil, vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (29), Russia
Kaia Kanepi (24), Estonia, vs. Garbine Muguruza, Spain
Timea Babos, Hungary, vs. Anna Schmiedlova, Slovakia
Christina McHale, United States, vs. Chan Yung-jan, Taiwan
Lourdes Dominguez Lino, Spain, vs. Caroline Wozniacki (10), Denmark
Sloane Stephens (13), United States, vs. Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan
Tadeja Majeric, Slovenia, vs. Ajla Tomljanovic, Croatia
w-Olivia Rogowska, Australia, vs. Mariana Duque-Marino, Colombia
Elina Svitolina, Ukraine, vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (19), Russia
Bojana Jovanovski (33), Serbia, vs. Jana Cepelova, Slovakia
Chanelle Scheepers, South Africa, vs. Yvonne Meusburger, Austria
Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, vs. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, Czech Republic
Johanna Larsson, Sweden, vs. Victoria Azarenka (2), Belarus
