"She's back... already"

After Saturday, Maria Sharapova might want to take to heart her words of a couple weeks ago and retire to have a family.

Because she got whooped.

Serena Williams is back. And the rest of the women's tennis world better brace themselves, because she's not going anywhere this time.

"It's always like, tell me no and I'll show you that I can do it," Williams said in an Associated Press article. "I get the greatest satisfaction just holding up the Grand Slam trophy and proving everyone wrong."

I am one of the people Williams proved wrong. I thought it would take her a couple months to get back into playing shape. After all, it was no secret throughout the past two weeks that Williams was not in the kind of shape she's been in during the past.

Williams proved, however, that physical condition can be overcome by heart. She knew how many people were doubting her. She knew what people were saying about her body. So she refused to lose.

Williams, who was unseeded, battled her way to the final, beating five seeded players before absolutely shellacking Maria Sharapova in a mere 63 minutes. She made Sharapova appear like a high school player with her sheer power. By the time it was 4-0 in the first set, there was no doubt Williams was the better player. There was no way there'd be a comeback on this warm Aussie afternoon.

The only comeback being completed was Williams' back to the top of the women's tennis world. She is projected to leap from No. 81 to No. 14 in the Women's Tennis Association rankings next week. But, honestly, will anyone say that Sharapova, who is expected to be No. 1 in the rankings, is better than Williams?

No. As improbable as it seems, Williams, in just one tournament, became the queen of women's tennis once again. Williams' victory was her first since she won the same tournament two years earlier and also her first championship match appearance since then. She became just the second player ever - with Chris O'Neil in 1978 - to win a grand slam as an unseeded player. She now has eight grand slams, tying her for 10th all time.

Williams might not be as quick as, say, Sharapova, but she is by far the strongest, most powerful player in the WTA. Her 64 aces at the Australian Open were the most of any player. If a player doesn't make Williams move laterally, she will dominate – and completely pummel - them with both forehands and backhands.

Is she as good as she was back in her prime, when she won four consecutive grand slams? No, definitely not. But she's older, now 25, more mature and these last two weeks, I think, she realized that her ability to play tennis is not something she should take for granted.

When she puts her mind to the game, and doesn't let other ventures distract her, she can be the best. Like she was the last two weeks.

Now we get to see how she follows this up. Is another streak of grand slam victories in the cards?

It should be fun to watch, if not fun for the other players in the WTA.