Again, Graf’s record takes centrestage on Centre Court

Before looking ahead to the Wimbledon final between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber on Saturday, take a moment to look back at the American’s second-round match last week.

After dropping the opening set against Christina McHale in a ragged tiebreaker, Williams plopped herself in her sideline chair and proceeded to smack her racket repeatedly against the grass, before flinging the equipment so far behind her that it landed in the lap of a TV cameraman.

That display earned six-time Wimbledon champion Williams a $10,000 fine. And, more importantly, she has won all 10 sets she’s played since.

“Sometimes when I release that energy, I get kind of calm,” Williams said. “I just sometimes feel like maybe I need to release.”

So maybe there was something to the theory, espoused by some, that Williams has been having so much trouble winning her 22nd Grand Slam title because she cared too much about tying Steffi Graf ’s Open-era record.

Listen to the way Williams described the state of her game heading into Saturday’s final:

“I feel good. I felt great in other tournaments, as well. But I feel a little different,” Williams said. “I just feel more relaxed and more at peace than I may have been in the past.”

The No. 1 player in the WTA rankings insisted, meanwhile, that her so-close-yet-so-far pursuit of Graf has not been weighing on her.

“My goal has never been 22,” Williams said after her 48-minute workout of a 6-2, 6-0 semifinal victory over Elena Vesnina on Thursday. “I don’t talk about that anymore.”

Since winning Wimbledon a year ago for her fourth consecutive Grand Slam title and 21st of her career, Williams’ count has stalled. She lost to Roberta Vinci in the US Open semifinals, to Kerber in the Australian Open final, and to Garbine Muguruza in the French Open final.

That meeting on a hard court at Melbourne in January was the first major title match for Kerber, a 28-year-old from Germany who considers Graf an idol and has received advice from her.