Serena Williams interview: World No 1 keeps her cool at prospect of historic seventh US Open

'It's really difficult to compare generations. Things change – power, technique, technology'

Serena Williams will be trying to win her sevent US Open title (AP)

Serena Williams was not convincing anybody. “I really don’t have much at stake,” the world No 1 insisted here at the draw ceremony as she looked ahead to next week’s US Open. “I’m not thinking like that. Being here is an opportunity to defend my title. I love winning here, I love playing here and that’s all I want to do.”

For most of the summer Williams has been trying hard to give the impression that the prospect of becoming only the fourth woman in history to achieve a pure Grand Slam – winning the Australian, French and US Opens and Wimbledon in the same calendar year – is the last thing on her mind. “Maybe later on in the tournament or maybe if I make it far I’ll start to feel pressure, but as of now I’m really just here to perform the best I can,” she said.

Williams already holds all four titles, having completed her second “Serena Slam” (winning the four in sequence but not in the same calendar year) at Wimbledon this summer. However, the next fortnight offers the chance to join Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf as the only players to have performed what is regarded as the greatest feat in tennis.

“Wimbledon gave me unbelievable practice for this because at Wimbledon I was going for the second Serena Slam and that is rare,” Williams said. “That really gave me the best practice and preparation in terms of going for the Grand Slam.”

Despite those words, Williams’ demeanour told a different story. The 33-year-old American was in a subdued mood and on occasions even looked nervous as she faced the media for the last time before the tournament starts. In the morning she had trained on one of the furthest-flung practice courts but still had dozens of cameras trained on her, not to mention the eyes of a large number of spectators who chose to watch the world No 1 rather than any of the qualifying matches.

Williams’ Wimbledon title last month took her tally of Grand Slam singles trophies to 21. She is now just one short of Graf’s Open era record and three behind Court’s all-time mark. Asked if she thought she was the greatest woman ever to play tennis (the verdict of many respected observers), Williams said she did not believe that was the case, but suggested that the statistics would tell their own story.

Serena Williams of the United States celebrates after degeating Garbine Muguruza in the 2015 Wimbledon final (Getty)

“I do believe in numbers,” she said. “I think different generations and different times have different champions, different greats and different levels of players. It’s really difficult to compare one generation to another several generations ago. Things change – power, technique, technology. A lot of these things have contributed to that.”

Which recent champions had she particularly admired? “For me, growing up watching, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles was just a great time. I think those two are people that really stuck out for me in my generation. It was really cool to play them and just be a part of that.”

The respect Williams has earned from her peers has been evident with some of them, including Ana Ivanovic, suggesting they would like her to complete the pure Grand Slam. “I’ve gotten a lot of support from the players in the locker rooms,” Williams said. “Obviously they want to win but if they don’t, I feel like I’m their second choice. That feels really good. It goes a long way.”

By winning her fourth successive US Open over the next fortnight Williams would become the first man or woman to win this title seven times. The tournament has a character all of its own, epitomised by the night matches held in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of boisterous crowds.

Home players enjoy raucous support, but Williams might not have it all her own way. Eight other Americans – including her sister Venus, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys – were handed places in the world No 1’s quarter of the draw. Maria Sharapova is Williams’ scheduled semi-final opponent, while Simona Halep, the world No 2, heads the bottom section of the draw.

Williams’ longevity is extraordinary. She won her first Grand Slam title here in 1998. The statistics also indicate she has improved with age. Winning Wimbledon last month made her the oldest Grand Slam champion of the modern era at 33 years and 289 days. She has won 29 of her last 31 finals in all competitions and eight of her last 13 Grand Slam tournaments since the Frenchman Patrick Mouratoglou became her coach three summers ago.

Although going for a pure Grand Slam is the ultimate challenge, Williams has grown used to coping with pressure. “I feel like there’s always another record, then there’s always another person to catch up with or to pass,” she said.

“I never really thought I would be in this position where I would even be talking about records, talking about Steffi Graf or even mentioning Margaret Court. I just grew up trying to be the best that I could. I worked really hard for everything, so to even be mentioned in that conversation is great.”