VENUS Williams is targeting a third straight Wimbledon title, but is at a loss to explain her dominance at the All England Club.
Williams has an amazing record in SW19, winning 58 of her 65 matches since making her debut in 1997.
In the last nine years the 29-year-old has won the title five times and appeared in two other finals, but has failed to repeat such success at the other grand slams.
Williams has won the US Open twice but has never won the Australian or French Opens, reaching one final in Melbourne (2003) and Paris (2002).
She can offer no secret to her success at Wimbledon as she prepares for a first-round clash with Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele tomorrow.
Asked why Wimbledon is her best event, Williams said: ‘‘Everyone asks that. My answer is, ‘Why not?’ ‘‘In previous years I have had just a great feeling at this tournament and I’m looking forward to having that feeling again.
‘‘I just put my best foot forward the best that I can.
‘‘Everybody wants to know the secret. There is no secret, just hard work, doing the right thing at the right moment and making it happen.
That’s all I can say.’’ Williams turned 29 on June 17 but has no intention of hanging up her rackets any time soon.
The women’s game has suffered from the loss of such players as Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport recently, but Williams and her younger sister Serena insist they are not going anywhere.
‘‘Serena and I, we often talk about that, we wonder what happened to them,’’ she added.
‘‘We’re still here and we’re not leaving.
‘‘It’s been a real blessing to have the success that we’ve had and to be able to be still playing great tennis at this point with the outlook of still playing great tennis for years to come.
‘‘I don’t see anything changing for a while.
‘‘I want to play the Olympics here (in 2012) and it’s really not that far off. I definitely would love to be playing the Olympics here and going for more gold. It’s my favourite.’’ As for more Wimbledon titles, Williams has not ruled out the possibility of matching the nine victories of Martina Navratilova.
‘‘It’s great to be a part of history and if I can step it up a notch it will be even more of an honour,’’ she added.
‘‘I guess it will mean more and more every year, when it’s all said and done.’’
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