Serena has tough road to Wimbledon title

LONDON – Before she faced older sister Venus in the fourth round Monday, Serena Williams had already come back from being two points from defeat against British No. 1 Heather Watson in a dramatic encounter on Centre Court.
Now the world No. 1 has this still ahead over the next five days:
Three more matches to win the Wimbledon crown, looming opponents in Victoria Azarenka (next) and Maria Sharapova (possibly), and a historic feat that she is no longer discussing, the calendar Grand Slam.
It's been said before: Being Serena is not easy.
"I look forward to tomorrow," countered an upbeat Williams of facing Azarenka. "I feel like my tournament has finally begun. This is where I feel really comfortable in a Grand Slam."
No one has been as lethal in the latter stages of majors in the history of women's tennis. In the last eight times she's reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam draw, Williams has won the tournament outright seven times.
She's 26-12 in Grand Slam quarterfinals in her career.
"I always seem to be on the side of the draw that's more lopsided," said Williams, 33. "I'm on the heavier side, it seems. Maybe because I'm one of the heavy hitters and it makes it heavier. But also with Victoria, Maria… It doesn't matter. At the end of the day you need to get through these matches now, sooner or later."
It's the first time in 11 years that three American women are in the quarterfinals here, with CoCo Vandeweghe, 23, and 20-year-old Madison Keys also advancing.
Vandeweghe takes on Sharapova for the right to meet the Williams-Azarenka winner. Meanwhile, Keys faces 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska on the bottom half of the draw for the right to face either Timea Bacsinszky or Garbiñe Muguruza, two rising stars in women's tennis.
It is fair to say that Williams cannot afford a letdown after two emotional wins. She needed a meteoric turnaround at the French Open to beat Azarenka, the former world No. 1. Couple that with her continued chase of the calendar Grand Slam – which she has never achieved in her career – and the pressure becomes larger than life.
"I'm no longer answering questions about (the calendar) Grand Slam," Williams said at one point during her press conference, done in by question after question of her quest to become the first player to win all four in one year since Steffi Graf did so in 1988.

Source: MSNSports