Serena’s love of the great indoors

 

Originally published on: 03/07/12 00:00

Williams is already one of the front-runners to raise the Venus Rosewater dish at Wimbledon this weekend, but if poor weather requires the use of the Centre Court roof for her remaining matches perhaps the American should be considered an outright favourite.

The world No.6 played under cover for the first time during her authoritative 6-3 7-5 triumph over defending champion Petra Kvitova on Tuesday and professed to thoroughly enjoying the experience.

“It was amazing for me,” beamed the 13-time Grand Slam champion. “There was no elements, no excuses. I loved it. I loved the sound. It was really cool. I’ve never played under the roof so it was a first for me."

Asked what it was, in particular, about the sound inside the arena, Serena replied: “The sound of the balls. It's kind of like a ‘whoosh’ and a ‘pop’. It's really cool. It's almost like a video game but you're playing. It kind of flies through and you hear it when it lands. It's really cool. I really like playing indoor.”

Serena plays either Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka or Tamira Paszek, who conquered Caroline Wozniacki in her opening match, in the semi-finals and insists she'll be ready for either challenge. 

"She's playing unbelievable," the American said of Azarenka. "I think she's played so well this year. Already having a Grand Slam under her belt is really great. She did it in such style, so it's not going to be easy if I play her."

Williams intimated that she wouldn't necessarily prefer to play Paszek despite beating the emerging Austrian for the loss of just five games in the first round of the Australian Open this year. 

“She plays really well on grass,” added Williams of last year’s quarter-finalist. “This is the second time she's had a good result here. She took out a good seed and kept going. She didn't lose in the next round, so she's obviously extremely serious about doing the best that she can.”

Williams is eyeing a place in her seventh Wimbledon final, having triumphed in four of her previous six – in 2002, 2003, 2009 and 2010.

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here