When Serena Williams describes the essence of her game, she does not choose a specific shot. She doesn’t talk about her flexibility or movement, nor does she mention her power.

“My game is my mental toughness,” she says succinctly. “Just not only to be able to play, to win, but to be able to come back when I’m down. Both on the court and after tough losses, just to continue to come back and continue to fight, it’s something that takes a lot of tenacity.”

Her last-four meeting today against unseeded Elena Vesnina will be Serena’s eighth consecutive grand slam semi-final appearance – a stretch that is made all the more remarkable by the fact that she is turning 35 and already has 21 majors trophies. How could she possibly still crave for more?

“I think it’s great. You know, like I said, it just shows another mental toughness of mine, just being able to come through and consistently get to this stage of the tournament. I think it’s something that is really noteworthy,” she explained.

Serena finds herself at a grand slam semi-final, together with sister Venus, for the 11th time in their careers, but this is the first occasion this has happened since 2009. The accomplishments of the Williams family have been told, retold, and documented in every shape and form but the full picture will never be fully captured until they both retire.

“I’m surprised of the longevity of it. That definitely took me by surprise,” says Serena of her and Venus’ life story. “But also when you’re younger and you have a dream and you say it and you believe it, that’s one thing. But for it to really happen and to come true, it’s just a completely different emotion.”

Serena, targeting a seventh Wimbledon trophy, and an Open Era record-equalling grand slam title, leads Vesnina 4-0 head-to-head but they haven’t faced off, in singles, since 2013.

“She has a really good grass court game, I think,” said Serena. “She has a really good serve. I notice that she always works on things and she always improves her game.

“She’s also very aggressive. She comes to the net. I know her game really, really well. It’s good to play someone’s game that you know. I think, yeah, I’ll be ready for it.”