AFP
London, June 21

World number one Venus Williams admits that she's hooked on winning Wimbledon titles, and is determined to complete the hat-trick at the 2002 championships which get underway at the All-England Club on Monday.

"Once you start winning there it gets pretty addictive," said the 21-year-old, who wants to follow in the footsteps of Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, the last two women to win three in a row.

"Nothing less than winning Wimbledon again will be good enough for me," says Williams, who has won back-to-back titles at both the US Open and Wimbledon.

Williams may have been deprived of her fifth Grand Slam title at the hands of younger sister Serena in Paris earlier this month but believes she can redeem herself at her favourite tournament from next Monday.

"It's easy to tell you what I like so much about Wimbledon. There's the grass, the atmosphere, the winning and the trophy."

"It's impossible to win all. So I've got to go for the next one," said Williams after her Paris loss. "I can try to win Wimbledon again. The chances are good."

Williams can count on both her power-play and her experience here after seeing off fellow American Lindsay Davenport in 2000 and Belgian teen Justine Henin in last year's final.

Defending her title last year was a bigger test than becoming the first Afro-American since Althea Gibson to triumph here, admits Williams.

"It was a lot tougher to win last year because I had to blank out all distractions. There were a lot of rain delays at the end. What I had to do was just focus on the tennis."

Ironically it was a win over Serena here in 2000 which convinced her she could be a Wimbledon champion.

"I had to fight for my life to win that semi-final against Serena. Going home from the transport depot in the car after that I thought to myself 'I am going to win the final on Saturday'. I just had this feeling."

But this year's event could be the biggest test for Williams, coming after her French Open defeat to Serena.

Williams had a strong start this season by gaining a title at Gold Coast without dropping a set, but her impressive 24-match win-streak was ended by compatriot Monica Seles at the Australian Open quarter-final.

The American recovered from a wrist sprain that forced her out of Rome but lost the final in Hamburg on May 5 to Belgian Kim Clijsters, and will be chasing her fifth title this year, and 26th of her career here.

She looked on course at Roland Garros, not dropping a set going into the final, but whereas she had the easier draw in Paris she has a tougher draw here with Clijsters, Henin, Seles and Elena Dementieva in her half of the draw, while Serena has to contend with Jennifer Capriati.