Serena serves notice, says Wimbledon 'is just the beginning'

Less than six months into her return to competitive tennis, Serena Williams says reaching the Wimbledon final is "just the beginning."

Though the 37-year-old fell to Angelique Kerber for the second time in a Grand Slam final, the 23-time major champion remained optimistic when discussing her prospects for the rest of the season and beyond in her post-championship meeting with the press. 

The run to the final came in just the American's fourth tournament of the season after giving birth last September, and first since withdrawing from the French Open in June ahead of a fourth round match against Maria Sharapova due to a right pectoral injury.

Read more: Kerber claims third major crown, shocks Serena at Wimbledon

"I took some time off to train and get ready for the Grand Slams. I definitely am going to continue to play and just work on my game, work on staying in there," she assessed. 

"It's good to just continue that path and just continue to keep going for me...things I want to work on for the future, things that I want to do, try and execute that. Really, just these two weeks were so mental for me. I won matches. I was really mentally fighting for literally every match. I did the best that I could every match that I played."

With her six victories this fortnight at the All-England Club, Williams moved into first place among active players in career match wins at the All-England Club with 92, passing sister Venus who owns 89. 

She continued: "I always enter a tournament just coming to do my best. This particular tournament, I entered just wanting to win some matches. I kept winning, and it kept happening. It was definitely a little bit of a surprise for me. Also it was super encouraging to know that I can compete and do well."

As it happened: Kerber conquers Serena, crowned at Wimbledon

The former World No.1 was bidding to become the fourth mother to win a major title in the Open Era, following Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Kim Clijsters.

"I just like to tell all the moms, like, I had such a long struggle to come back, and it was really difficult. Honestly, I feel like if I can do it, they can do it. I'm just that person, that vessel, that's saying, 'You can be whatever you want to be.' If you want to go back to work, and to me after becoming a mom, I feel like there's no pressure to do that because having a child is a completely full-time job," she said.

"To those that do want to go back, you know, You can do it, you can really do it. It was a great opportunity for me. You know, I didn't know a couple of months ago where I was, where I would be, how I would do, how I would be able to come back. It was such a long way to see light at the end of the road kind of."

Despite the defeat, her road back to the top of women's tennis will be supported by her exploits at the All-England Club.

Williams will soar over 100 spots in the WTA rankings come Monday, as she will rise to World No.28 from her current position of World No.181. 

Meanwhile, on the Porsche Race to Singapore, the American will rise to No.17 in the Race to the season-ending BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. 

"I'm already deciphering what I need to improve on, what I need to do, what I did wrong, why I did it wrong, how I can do better, that whole madness that goes on in my mind," she said. "Then I'm saying, 'Okay, I do improve with losses. We'll see how it goes.'

"I think these two weeks have really showed me that I can compete. Obviously, I can compete for the long run in a Grand Slam. I can come out and be a contender to win Grand Slams."