Not only did she accomplish her season goal of winning Wimbledon, Serena also sits atop the women's tennis ranking, having supplanted her sister for the No. 1 ranking. Interestingly, Serena did not need a Wimbledon victory to secure the No. 1 ranking.

With the upcoming hardcourt season, Serena will be preparing for the U.S. Open and a third consecutive Grand Slam title.

Q1: Have you accomplished a lifelong goal by winning Wimbledon?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, I mean, my goal this year - before the year even started, at the end of the last year - was to win Wimbledon. My goal always when I'm entering a tournament is to do the best I can. I never believe that I'm going to lose when I'm in a tournament. I can't become satisfied because, you know, if I get satisfied, I'll be like, "Oh, I've won Wimbledon, I've won the US Open. Now can I relax." But I just wanted Wimbledon. I wanted to become a member of so much prestige, so much history. I want to be a part of history. Now people are really going to be fighting to beat me now.

Q2: How do you feel after becoming the No. 1 player in the world?

SERENA WILLIAMS: At the French, I was actually a little nervous about being No. 2. No one said anything to me, so I wasn't really looking at the points. I just thought I was farther behind. I was really excited. [But becoming No. 1] has just been a goal of mine. I just don't know. I haven't even been able to settle in right now. It really feels great. I've really been working hard. You know, at points in my life, things went down. Game-wise, I wasn't playing a lot. I had a lot of injuries. Especially in the beginning of this year, just seems like, you know, they just weren't looking so up. I just decided to fight, and things just turned around for me.

Q3: Do you feel like you're a better player than Venus since becoming No. 1?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I just always believe the way Venus plays at times; it's impossible to beat her. Because sometimes, even in practice, I'm really fighting just to get the ball back. And I don't even think I'm a good enough partner for her because of the way she's playing against me. But I don't know. I'm not going to say that I don't feel I'm -- but I think really, if I missed a shot in that match, things really could have swung either way, and she would have been sitting here as the champion. I just think we're so close right now.

Q4: How do you cope with the challenge of not becoming overconfident?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I had overconfidence maybe once in my career, and I proceeded to lose that match. So I was reading one time where Billie Jean King said whenever she went out to play anyone, especially if they were ranked lower, she played them as if they were the No. 1 player in the world. And I think it's very important not to get overconfident because for us, everyone wants to beat a Williams right now. We're the top players. Everyone wants to beat us ... they're still bringing their best game. So I have to make sure I'm ready because anything can happen.

Q5: Has fame interfered with your "normal" life; are you able to have a normal life?

SERENA WILLIAMS: No, it's impossible. I think I live a definitely different life. You have some pop stars who are 20 who are living maybe the same life I'm living. It's totally different. I couldn't imagine my life getting any crazier. I can't go anywhere, especially in America. It's very difficult for me to go anywhere - even to the local grocery store. I can't go because people are always really excited to see me. I feel like people are always staring at me. You feel all eyes on you. I've gotten used to it. None of it goes to my head. I have normal friends. I'm just as normal as anyone else.

Q6: How have you changed since winning the U.S. Open three years ago?

SERENA WILLIAMS: It's all changed mentally. I'm mentally a different person: I'm stronger, I seem to have more experience under my belt. I don't know. I don't know what the main turnaround point was. Maybe last year at Wimbledon when I lost - it was a tough loss, it really was. I don't know, just sometimes I wonder if I hadn't of lost, would things be different.

Q7: Who do you consider friends on the tour, besides Venus?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Chanda [Rubin] and I really get along well. Alexandra and I, Alexandra Stevenson, we're really good friends. And Kim, she's a very nice girl. We always talk. There's a lot of players - Lisa Raymond, Rennae Stubbs. We definitely get along.

Q8: How do you make sure you eat right?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I love to shop, and I eat to live, I don't live to eat. So I eat the minimal amount of food that I can so I can stay in shape. Venus always gets angry at me because I never go grocery shopping, I never buy food. She always tells me to go to the store, and I never go. It's good. She always cooks, but she's very upset at me all the time, "Serena, you never go to the store." I'm like, "Yeah, you know." I'm very lazy about that. When we stay at home, there's nothing in our refrigerator. Some people came over one time, our friends, they were like, "You have nothing in your refrigerator." There was nothing to eat. Our cereal has bugs in it because it's so old. My mom sometimes brings things over. Sometimes she goes to the grocery store and cooks for us. Life is so tough.

Q9: Lennox Lewis was spotted sitting with your family. Is he a family friend? Are you a boxing fan?

SERENA WILLIAMS: I don't know about a family friend. Maybe. Fan. Family fan, yes. I'm a huge fan of his. You know, every time he walks out there, before he's walking out, I can tell he's going to win because he's really focused and he has this look in his eyes. Like I saw on TV before he fought Mike, he looked really much more focused than Tyson did. I don't know. He's a good boxer. I don't know, I like his hair. I think it's really cool.

Q10: What did you do to relax during the tournament?

SERENA WILLIAMS: Oh, I just stay at home mostly, at the house. I read. I finished a couple books already. I'm starting a new one. I can't remember [the title]. I haven't started it yet. I can't remember the name of the author. I just finished a couple Marian Keyes books. They were really good.