Serena Williams didn’t take long to reset her sights after winning her sixth Wimbledon title.
Williams now holds all the major titles for the second time in her career, dubbed the ‘Serena Slam’. But what she really wants is an actual Grand Slam – and a victory at the US Open next month would secure that for the first time since Steffi Graf in 1988.
The 33-year old became the oldest women’s major winner in the open era with a confident 6-4, 6-4 victory, during which she was never truly stretched, by opponent Garbine Muguruza.
It was her 21st Grand Slam title and it further underlined her claim to being the greatest women’s player of all-time.
“I did the whole presentation and the whole walk around the court. I was peaceful and feeling really good but maybe little bit after that I started thinking about New York,” admitted Williams.
“I’ve won New York three years in a row so I just hope this isn’t the year I go down. I feel physically better than I did when I last won the ‘Serena Slam’ in 2003.
“I feel like I’m more fit and I feel like I can do more than I could back then. I do have some aches and pains but overall I feel like I’m better. I just keep reinventing myself in terms of working out and it’s been working.
“I honestly wouldn’t have thought last year after winning the US Open I would win the ‘Serena Slam’ at all.
“I just knew I wanted to win Wimbledon this year because of all the grand slams, it was the one I hadn’t won in a while.
“I had a really tough draw: this gives me confidence that if I had this draw, I can do it again. I’ll just do the best I can. I really don’t feel like I have anything to lose.”
Muguruza – in her first Slam final – admitted taking on Williams on Centre Court was a daunting prospect. But her time will surely come after some attention-grabbing results in the last fortnight.
“It’s hard to concentrate, you’re thinking ‘she’s won this five times this’,” she said.
“But I just learned that everyone is nervous, even Serena, in a final, because I saw it, and that I have a good level.
“I have to believe that I can be there. Here I have the proof, in Wimbledon, that I was really close.”
Meanwhile, Martina Hingis landed her first Wimbledon title since 1998 as she and Sania Mirza beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the women’s doubles final.
Hingis, 34, was a 16-year old singles winner in 1997 and won doubles titles in 1996 and 1998, before retiring twice in recent years.
“It feels like it my last win here was in another life,” said Hingis.
“Usually you’re lucky to win it once or happy to be out here and play on the Wimbledon grounds, it’s above my expectations.
“I have a great partner to pull me through. It takes guts and courage being 5-2 down in the third set. We couldn’t have asked for more drama how to win it It’s definitely the crowd who made us win this match at the end.”
