SERENA WILLIAMS has revealed she delivers pep talks to herself in secret notes she takes with her in court.
Williams has booked a place in the semi-finals at Wimbledon after coming through a tough three-set clash with fellow American Alison Riske.
During a tricky match the 37-year-old was spotted reaching into her bag for some random scraps of paper during the change-overs as she looked for inspiration.
The seven-time Singles champion then peered underneath her towel during the break in play to read the messages written on them,
Whatever was written, it was enough to help her finally see off Riske and progress through to the last four as she closes in on an eighth title atthe All-England Club.
Williams was then quizzed about the notes, which are perfectly withing the rules.
She said: “They are messages that I write myself, just keeping focused on the match.
“I’ve been looking at notes for decades.
“Sometimes when I need them or I feel like I need a little extra something, I just remember things that I write down before the match and just try to stay focused on it.”
Williams believes the further she goes in the tournament, the sharper she is becoming having seen much of the season until now disrupted by a series of injuries.
She added: “I haven’t had a tremendous amount of time to prepare for this. But, you know, like I said in the beginning of this tournament, each and every match for me has to count as, like, five or ten matches because I have not played a lot.
“This is the first time since Australia that I actually felt, like, good.
“It’s been a really, really long year for me already, and hard year, because I’m usually not typically injured.
“I don’t know where I am. I do know I feel good.
“Now that I feel good, I can actually focus on training and technique and practice, something that I just literally haven’t been able to do a lot of.”
