In many ways, the past few years on the WTA Tour have been about personal pleasure for Serena Williams.
The main milestones in a professional tennis player’s career were achieved a long time ago.
She became world No 1 for the first time 13 years ago, and she completed her career grand slam of all four majors in January 2003 when she won the Australian Open for the first time by beating older sibling Venus in three sets in the final.
Since then, when fit and focused, she has won pretty much at her leisure.
She bids on Saturday to win her 21st major title and sixth at Wimbledon, as she goes up against Garbine Muguruza in the final on Centre Court.
There is an added aspect at stake, though. Already long established as an all-time great and comfortably the best player of this era, victory would set her up to achieve the one thing in the game not on her record — a grand slam of victories in all four majors in the same calendar year.
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If she is successful this afternoon, it will be her fourth successive grand slam tournament title, a run that began when she won the US Open in September.
It means she will be defending champion at all four majors, an accomplishment impressive in itself but one she already has completed, having won the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in 2002 and then in Australia in 2003.
This year, with the Australian and French titles already in her trophy cabinet, she can become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to complete a calendar grand slam.
Williams’s most recent defeat at a major was at Wimbledon last year, when she was beaten by Alize Cornet.
Even though the record books hint at an era of domination, the reality — illustrated well in the past two weeks at Wimbledon — has been far different.
Williams’s tennis has flaws, but no one has been good enough, or consistent enough, to exploit them and defeat her.
Power remains her biggest asset and her most consistent way of winning cheap points, but if opponents returned serve well and cramped her by playing shots close to her body, and at her feet, her aggressive game could be nullified.
That was telling in the third round at this Wimbledon, when Heather Watson, the world No 59, pushed Williams to her limits.
Watson got into a position where she served for the match, but the British player’s nerves got the better of her and let Williams fight back to play another day.
It is easy on paper to find ways to take down Williams: concentrating on the return of the serve, varying up the game, taking the pace off the ball and playing drop shots to make the American, whose mobility has never been one of her strongest suits, move around the court.
But doing it for two sets has proved beyond anyone since Cornet last June.
Williams was also in trouble against Victoria Azarenka in the last eight, dropping the first set. Again, though, the Belarusian was unable to keep it up and went the way of Watson.
If Muguruza goes into the final nervous and in awe of Williams, then this could be over in an hour.
But if she plays some of the smart tennis that saw her deservedly beat the likes of Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska en route to the final, then the 20th seed can trouble the American.
The Spaniard will be the fourth different opponent Williams has faced in the past four major finals. She beat Wozniacki at the US Open, Maria Sharapova in Australia and then overcame illness to down Lucie Safarova in three sets at Roland Garros last month.
That tells the story that Williams has not had a genuine, consistent rival to push her.
But you can only beat what is in front of you and Williams, while more beatable than her impressive mark of 27 wins in a row in majors would indicate, has done that.
She will deserve the plaudits if she continues her dominance on Wimbledon’s Centre Court.
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