Serena Williams can 鈥榓bsolutely鈥� break Court鈥檚 Grand Slam record, says tennis legend Graf

Serena Williams won this year鈥檚 Australian Open while pregnant. (AFP)

ZHUHAI, China: Tennis legend Steffi Graf said Sunday that Serena Williams can 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� break Margaret Court鈥檚 Grand Slam singles title record if she returns to tennis.
Former world number one Serena Williams, who gave birth earlier this year, has already overtaken Graf with 23 Grand Slam wins but is yet to surpass Court, who boasts 24 major titles.
鈥淎bsolutely, yes,鈥� Graf said when asked if the record was within Williams鈥� reach.
Court is renowned as the most successful player in Grand Slam history 鈥� the only player to win 10 or more titles of a single Slam 鈥� lifting the Australian Open a staggering 11 times between 1960 and 1973.
Graf, who also has 22 Grand Slam singles titles under her belt and is famed for having spent 377 weeks ranked world number one, was speaking in Zhuhai, China, where she is ambassador for the WTA Elite Trophy tournament.
鈥淎 lot of it is determined on her drive and if that鈥檚 what she wants to do,鈥� she said of Williams.
Australian Open organizers said in October they were hopeful of a stunning return by Williams in January as they raised the winners鈥� prize money to a bumper A$4 million.
Williams won this year鈥檚 Australian Open while pregnant, and she has spoken of her 鈥渙utrageous鈥� plans to play in Melbourne in 2018 鈥� just four-and-a-half months after giving birth to her baby girl.
鈥淚t sounds from what I hear that she鈥檚 looking to come back to tennis,鈥� Graf added.
鈥淵ou know, everything that she has shown over her career just makes you believe that if she has that in her sights then she will go after it and achieve it.鈥�
The $2 million Elite Trophy features 12 players ranked from around nine to 20.
This week saw US Open winner Sloane Stephens crash out of the tournament in the round robin stage after losing her first match to Latvian Anastasija Sevastova and retiring from her second to Czech Barbora Strycova after just five games.
America鈥檚 CoCo. Vandeweghe is set to face Germany鈥檚 Julia Goerges in the final on Sunday.