Modest Serena plays down achievements

Serena Williams insists she does not think of herself as among the greats of the sport despite picking up her 11th grand slam singles title at Wimbledon.

The 27-year-old beat sister Venus 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 in Saturday’s final to clinch her third Wimbledon title and first since her double in 2002 and 2003 – when she beat Venus on both occasions.

That made it three victories from the last four slams for Serena, who is now seventh on the all-time list for singles victories.

“I’m really just playing for me, whether I’m the greatest or not,” she continued.

“I can’t even put myself in a sentence with the greatest, because I think of people like Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf and Billie Jean King. They were such great champions.

“To even be mentioned with those people is a real honour to me. I feel like I’m really young. I feel like I’m only thinking about my career and continued playing.”

And equalling King’s 12 titles, which the world number two would do if she retains her US Open crown in September, would be particularly special.

“I feel like now I’m just not even in a competition of how many I can win,” continued Serena.