Serena hopes to avoid nerves against Maria

It's the semifinals of a Grand Slam, but Serena doesn't want to be excited. Because 'excited' could mean tightness and unforced errors.

It's the semifinals of a Grand Slam, but Serena Williams doesn't want to be excited.

HT Image

Excited is bad. Excited means tightness. It means unforced errors. It could even mean that hated word - defeat. Besides, there's plenty of time to get excited if she's holding the Australian Open champions trophy on Saturday.

Still, it won't be easy not to get excited on Thursday, when Williams faces one of the few women to hold a winning record against her. Not only did 17-year-old Maria Sharapova end the Williams sisters' four-year lock on Wimbledon by beating Serena in the final last year, the Russian rallied to down her in the final of the season-ending WTA Championships, too, to go ahead 2-1 in head-to-head meetings.

Williams hopes to block all of that out, along with the rash of injuries that left the former world No. 1 seeded only seventh here - and the personal tragedy that continues to exact an emotional toll. "I think I was way too nervous at Wimbledon," Williams said of her 6-1, 6-4 loss to Sharapova last June. "I couldn't sleep, I couldn't breathe. Sometimes you want it too bad that you just freak yourself out."