Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/560492
14 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2015 ROLAND GARROS AND WIMBLEDON A triumphant summer for Serena Williams brought the American her fourth successive major title and keeps her on course to achieve the Grand Slam, while only Stan Wawrinka could stop a dominant Novak Djokovic. Leigh Walsh reports. W ith a broad smile stretched across her face and the buzz of admiration still bouncing around Centre Court, the newly-crowned Wimbledon champion Serena Williams skipped across the dusty grass for her post-match interview. Just eight minutes had passed since her moment of triumph over Spain's Garbine Muguruza. It was barely enough time for the perspiration to settle and the heart rate to slow, but as Serena stood in front of the microphone, cradling the Venus Rosewater Dish for the sixth time, her mind had already wandered from southwest London to the New York borough of Queens. As the holder of all four majors, the Serena Slam was hers for the second time. Now, thoughts of a calendar Grand Slam — all four majors in one year — were seeping into her consciousness. "I didn't think about it till the interview," Serena later explained. "Then I just thought, Oh, man, I've won New York three times in a row. I hope this isn't the year that I go down." If Serena can be summed up in one moment, this was it. Here she was, soaking up the applause after winning a 21st major crown, but it was the potential of a record- equalling 22nd at the US Open that was tugging at her attention. The ability to stay in the moment, Serena admits, is the thing she grapples with the most. It's both the source of her unrivalled drive and the root of her vulnerabilities. When she fell before the quarterfinals at the first three Grand Slams last year, she admitted the dream of equalling Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert on 18 majors was weighing on her. Serena has learned from that experience. "Don't mention the Grand Slam," she warned the media ahead of Wimbledon, with the wag of her finger and a look in her eye. Now, for her, it's about the journey rather than the destination. And although the competitor inside her will always be seeking out the next puzzle to solve, like it was on Centre Court, once inside the white lines she has become a master at focusing on the task at hand. In essence, she has gotten out of her own way. "It's easy to say, I want to win," she explained. "But you have to win each match, each set, each point. You have to stay in the moment." This fresh outlook was on full display at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and it needed to be. In Paris, Serena's path to a third title was a tricky one. She was struggling with flu and her performances were scratchy. In five of her seven wins, she was forced to three sets: against Anna-Lena Friedsam, Victoria Azarenka, Sloane Stephens, Timea Bacsinszky and Lucie Safarova. The win over Bacsinszky in the semifinal was arguably her toughest test. Serena was visibly unwell; she was sweating profusely and dragging her feet. She trailed 63 3-2. And then, as only Serena can, she reeled off the next ten games in a row to seal the win. "I don't think I have ever been that sick," she commented. In the dressing room afterwards, close friend Marion Bartoli helped remove her shoes and untape her ankles. Her energy had been sapped. Although still weakened, Serena was through the worst of the symptoms by the time the final came around. Against Safarova, she let slip a 63 4-1 40-15 lead before falling 0-2 behind in the decider. But she came storming back, notching the last six games on the trot before pointing a lone index finger to the sky in celebration. World No. 1 she reminded us. As if we could forget. Bacsinszky and Safarova's Parisian performances should also be noted. Just two years earlier, Bacsinszky's rackets were collecting dust. Disenchanted with the sport, she had returned to Switzerland ER A SUMM SEREN