SW34 is TENNIS.com's Wimbledon blog that will provide on-site news, insight and commentary about a pair of legendary 34-year-olds, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, as they look to once again triumph at the All England Club.
WIMBLEDON, England—Serena Williams isn’t feeling pressure at Wimbledon this year, which is a daunting prospect for her opponents to consider.
“Honestly, I don’t feel any pressure, I feel good and confident,” the 34-year-old said. “This year I don’t feel as much tension as I usually do.”
This time last year, the pressure was on full boil as Williams had reached the halfway mark of the calendar-year Grand Slam. Now that pressure is on Novak Djokovic’s shoulders.
“He has every opportunity to do it,” Williams said. “I think he’ll get it easy, so he should be fine.”
That’s the kind of confidence you’d expect to hear about Williams' chances against her first-round opponent, world No. 150 Amra Sadikovic. It’s not what you’d expect to hear when you’re trying to become the first man since Rod Laver to win four majors in the same season.
Williams comes into Wimbledon under a completely different set of circumstances as last year, having lost both of this season's major finals (in Australia to Angelique Kerber and in Paris to Garbine Muguruza). But the American insists that the slip-ups have served a blessing in disguise.
“I think it's important to learn from every loss that you have,” Williams said. “I think in particular I usually do throughout my whole career have been able to learn a lot, to come off, to come back a much better player.”
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova had no hesitations sharing who she feels is the biggest threat at SW19.
“It’s Serena. Well, definitely it is,” Kvitova said. “I mean, of course, she’s the biggest favorite. I think she has the best game to win it here.”
Though she fell one title short of the calendar-year Slam last year, Williams did win Wimbledon to complete the “Serena Slam” for the second time in her career.
“It was a great accomplishment to win four Grand Slams in a row twice in my career,” Williams said. “It's pretty cool. It's really awesome.”
The hunt to match Steffi Graf’s Grand Slam singles title mark of 22 is still very much on, but Williams is taking it one step at a time down the Centre Court gangways.
“When I'm walking down those corridors or hallways, you think of different moments that you've had, different moments that you've won, or didn't win,” Williams said. “I try not to focus on those moments because I try to create a new moment every time I walk out there.”