Beaten but unbowed, Serena Williams is vowing to continue her relentless pursuit of tennis’s most elusive feat despite falling tantalisingly short at Wimbledon.
Williams’ 6-3 6-3 finals loss to inspired German Angelique Kerber denied the American a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles crown.
Australian Margaret Court set the benchmark 43 years ago and, until now, the record has remained unchallenged.
Williams had been favoured to draw level on Saturday but, despite turning 37 in September and suffering only her third defeat in 10 finals at The All England Club, the former world No.1 maintains more majors are still to come.
The American is just 14 matches into her comeback after more than a year off on maternity leave and says while her priorities have changed, her hunger remains undiminished.
“It was such an amazing tournament for me. I was really happy to get this far,” Williams said after having her 20-match Wimbledon winning streak finally come to an end.
“It’s obviously disappointing but I can’t be disappointed; I have so much to look forward to. I’m only just getting started.
“I didn’t know a couple of months ago where I was, where I would be, how I would do, how I would be able to come back. It was such a long way to see light at the end of the road kind of.
“So I think these two weeks have really showed me that, ‘okay, I can compete’. Obviously I can compete for the long run in a grand slam. I can come out and be a contender to win grand slams.”
Williams was also bidding to become the first mother to win Wimbledon since Court’s fellow Australian great Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980.
Court and Belgian Kim Clijsters are the only other grand slam-winning mums in 50 years of professional tennis.
But even in defeat, Williams believes her run to the final was a win for all working mothers.
“I’d just like to tell all the mums, like, I had such a long struggle to come back, and it was really difficult. Honestly, I feel like if I can do it, they can do it,” she said.
“I’m just that person, that vessel, that’s saying, ‘You can be whatever you want to be’
“If you want to go back to work, and to me after becoming a mum, I feel like there’s no pressure to do that because having a child is a completely full-time job.
“But to those that do want to go back, you can do it, you can really do it.”
