More history beckons for Serena in Wimbledon final

The words Serena Williams and history go hand in hand. Almost every time she steps on a court, she has an opportunity to rewrite it.

The first record Williams broke on the professional circuit was back in 1997. She was 16-years-old, ranked 304 in the world and defeated Mary Pierce and Monica Seles back-to-back in a WTA event in Chicago to become the youngest player in the Open Era to beat two top-10 opponents in one tournament.

The stakes have grown exponentially ever since and more than two decades later, Williams is setting records for being the oldest, not the youngest, to achieve some of the biggest feats in tennis.

When she steps on court for her 10th Wimbledon final on Saturday against Germany’s Angelique Kerber, the 36-year-old will be gunning for Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. She won her 23rd major at the Australian Open last year – while pregnant, defeating sister Venus – to eclipse Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22.

Can’t help but smile. See you Saturday, #Wimbledon! ?? pic.twitter.com/FcZoN7CbdU

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 12, 2018

Now married and with a 10-month-old daughter named Olympia, Williams is on the verge of matching Court’s all-time mark, in just her fourth tournament back from maternity leave. If she beats Kerber on Saturday, she would be just the fourth mother in the Open Era to clinch a Grand Slam title.

So much has changed for Williams since her last major final, yet somehow she finds herself in familiar territory, knocking on the door of history.

She’s dealt with the occasion in various ways in the past. When she was going for four consecutive majors – her second ‘Serena Slam’ – at Wimbledon in 2015, she banned the press from mentioning the subject.

When she was planning her return to tennis after childbirth, Williams was clear. She doesn’t just want to equal Court’s mark – she wants to surpass it.

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“Maybe this goes without saying, but it needs to be said in a powerful way: I absolutely want more Grand Slams. I’m well aware of the record books, unfortunately. It’s not a secret that I have my sights on 25,” she told Vogue magazine in a January interview.

This is a fairly different tone to what Williams has used in the past. “I do have goals but I always like to keep them to myself,” she said after winning the 2014 WTA Finals, a month after finally equalling Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert with 18 Grand Slam titles.

Her hunt for number 18 appeared, at times, agonising. After securing a 17th major at the 2013 US Open, she went on to suffer shock defeats in the next three Slams, all before the quarterfinal stage. When Navratilova and Evert presented her with an 18-carat gold bracelet, Williams struggled to hold back tears during the trophy ceremony.

“I remember how stressed I was about getting to Grand Slam number 18, tying Chrissie and Martina,” Williams revealed to Vogue. “I had lost every Grand Slam that year. I was in the US Open, and Patrick [Mouratoglou], my coach, said, ‘Serena, this doesn’t make sense. You’re so stressed about 18. Why not 30? Why not 40?’ For me, that clicked. I won 18, 19, and 20 right after that. Why would I want to stand side by side when I can stand out on my own?”

A few months later at Singapore’s WTA Finals, Mouratoglou told Sport360 that Graf’s Open Era record was not the end goal. “I don’t care about 22, I care about 23,” he insisted.

Still, getting to 22 was no cakewalk for Williams.

After winning those four straight major titles beginning with US Open 2014, she owned 21 Grand Slam trophies. But the road from number 21 to 22 got rough, as if she was cycling smoothly before hitting a steep ascent. Bidding for a fifth major in a row, and a historic calendar-year Grand Slam, Williams was stunned by Italian Roberta Vinci in the 2015 US Open semifinals.

No one had won all four Slams in the same calendar year since Graf in 1988. Williams fell two victories short in New York and missed out on matching two of the German’s feats. The American pulled the plug on her season after that Vinci shock. It was a painful loss that cut deep.

“This is the biggest moment of my career and I didn’t get it,” Williams said in the documentary Serena. “I’ve never been in this position, so close to having something and losing it, or not getting it. I’ve let a lot of people down. You give a lot of people hope that they could do something that’s impossible. But hell, I couldn’t do it either.”

When she returned to competition the following season, two more opportunities to level Graf slipped away; Williams lost to Kerber in the 2016 Australian Open final and to Garbine Muguruza in the Roland Garros decider.

After winning 21 of her first 25 Slam finals, suddenly she had lost two in a row.

But instead of crumbling, Williams picked herself up and immediately created another shot at history. She reached the Wimbledon 2016 final; a rematch with Kerber. This time, she walked away the victor, ending her quest for that mythical number 22.

“I’ve definitely had some sleepless nights,” Williams later admitted. “Coming so close. Feeling it. Not being able to quite get there.”

Number 23 came six months later at Melbourne Park.

Now, with 24 within reach, Williams appears far calmer. When down a set to a hard-hitting Camila Giorgi in the quarters, she never panicked. When facing an in-form Julia Goerges in the semis, she upped her level and reduced her unforced errors.

Williams said that she thought motherhood would take her competitiveness down a notch, but she realised that wasn’t the case. Her ruthless edge is there; perhaps having Olympia has helped her stay composed. Having endured multiple health problems post-delivery, Williams approaches tennis with a newfound perspective, happy to be healthy and competing.

An all-time record beckons on Saturday. But Williams’ ambitions are beyond that.

“I don’t want to limit myself. I think that’s what I was doing in the past, I was limiting myself,” she said on Thursday.

“It’s [24] just a number. I want to get as many as I can, starting with – I still have a match to win, so I’m not even there yet.”