Venus Williams admits her seemingly unstoppable march towards a sixth Wimbledon title is being driven by the painful memory of the last time she dropped a set at the All England Club.
When Venus walks on court for her fourth round clash against Ana Ivanovic, the defending champion will be bidding to extend her winning streak on the south-west London grass courts to 18 matches.
Even more remarkable than that run, which stretches back to her defeat against Jelena Jankovic in 2006, is Venus's record of winning 29 consecutive sets dating back to a third round match against Japan's Akiko Morigami in 2007.
Morigami is the last player to seriously threatened Venus's reign as the queen of Wimbledon.
Although the Japanese eventually lost 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, she came within touching distance of eliminating the America after taking a 5-3 lead in the final set.
In a match played over two days due to rain, Williams got into trouble with 14 double faults and 42 unforced errors but emerged unscathed thanks to her bloody-minded refusal to accept defeat.
"That was an intense match and she was playing so well," Venus recalled. "She played low groundstrokes. I just remember playing very aggressive from 3-5, just returning aggressively.
"When the chips are down, I start to force the issue even more. Usually it works. You live and learn. I attribute it to that match."
The way she ground out that win showed Venus that no situation is completely hopeless and she has never looked back. Two successive Wimbledon titles followed and a third is well within her reach.
If she does lift the aptly named Venus Rosewater Dish again this year, Venus will become the first woman to complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon title since Steffi Graf in 1993.
She would also move within one title of Graf's total of seven and within three of record holder Martina Navratilova. Yet Venus insists thoughts of writing her name in the Wimbledon history books rarely entered her head.
"No, I don't think about it. But each one that I can manage to get, it's all mine, that's the good part about it," she said."
To achieve her goal this year, Venus will have to get past former French Open champion Ivanovic, the 13th seed, who she defeated easily in the 2007 semi-finals.
"We had a lot of great exchanges. I just remember playing aggressively," Venus said of that match.
"Obviously she's talented. I think this is a good surface for her. As far as her game she does everything well.
"I definitely feel calm and I know what I need to execute on the court. I feel good."
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