Serena won’t look past Halep in quest for title No. 24

WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND >> There are, of course, many reasons why Serena Williams has been as successful as she’s been, for as long as she’s been.

The serve. The returns. The groundstrokes. The court coverage. And more.

A little insight into one aspect of the way she approaches matches arrived via her answer to a question looking ahead to Saturday’s Wimbledon final against No. 7-seeded Simona Halep.

Williams, who can collect her eighth title at the All England Club and 24th Grand Slam singles trophy overall, was asked why she’s been able to accumulate a 9-1 head-to-head mark against the Romanian.

“The biggest key with our matches is the loss that I had. I never forgot it. She played unbelievable,” Williams said. “That makes me know that level she played at — she can get there again. So I have to be better than that.”

Doesn’t matter, apparently, that the result came all the way back in 2014, in a relatively inconsequential round-robin meeting at the season-ending championships. Or that Williams soundly beat Halep later at that same tournament. Or that Williams won their only matchup this season, at the Australian Open in January.

If it’s going to help to have a reminder that Halep is capable of beating her because she DID beat her once, why not focus on THAT?

Plus, Williams enters her 11th final at the All England Club well aware that she has lost her past two championship matches at Grand Slam tournaments — against Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon and against Naomi Osaka at the U.S. Open, both in 2018.

This will be Halep’s first final at Wimbledon. The opponent is not ideal.

“I’m desperate to win Wimbledon more than to stop her,” said Halep, who defeated Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals. “I will focus on myself.”