Wimbledon have responded to Venus's track record by elevating her from a ranking of 12 to a seeding of six, the only piece of tinkering with the women's seeds, and it would seem sound judgement, since she won last summer as 14th seed. "Twelfth in the rankings is not where I belong, in my head I'm always a champ, " is her particular explanation for this one.

After defeat at the quarter-final stage of the French Open, Venus flew home to Florida, something she regularly does between the two Grand Slams of Europe, opting to do prepare for Wimbledon on hard courts and arriving in London last Wednesday. It's enough, she claims. "I have no problem adapting to grass, I kinda rough it." Acknowledging "I'm not playing as well as I'm capable of, " she claims we will see more consistency from her at Wimbledon than at her three tournaments on the European clay. In Rome, beaten in the semifinals by Martina Hingis, she admits making "about 30,000 errors" after capturing the first set 6-0.

So can she win Wimbledon back to back, as she did in 2000-01? "I don't come to a tournament not expecting to win, " she parries. "I think I have the skills to be a contender wherever I play. Winning again is the goal and I am confident I can do what it takes, but I'm sure some of the other players will have something to say about that."

Venus is excited about the traditional champion's walk onto Centre Court on Tuesday to begin the defence of her title. "I have done it twice already and I welcome it every time because it's an honour and a privilege."

Having clocked up her 26th birthday before flying out from Florida, the woman who has won two US Opens as well as the three Wimbledons recognises that time is flitting by. "I know I need to be out there making it happen.

Be aggressive, fly to the moon. There is only so long your career lasts, I can't keep playing until I'm 50. Maybe Navratilova can, but I'm not as strong as she is. I've got to do what I can right now while I am still young and ready to go." Has she, then, set a retirement date?

"Yeah, but I'm not talking about it. I'll be around for a while yet, torturing you guys for quite a few more years." The question of retirement has more frequently been posed about her younger sister, Serena, who has not played since the Australian Open in January, but who is talking - yet again - about another return to the tour, a week after Wimbledon ends. "At the French Open, " says Venus, "people were asking me if Serena is really injured or is she retiring. I told them, 'First of all, don't count out us Williamses, second, I do know when she is coming back and third, I'm not telling you.'" The dismal news for American women's tennis is that Venus is the only seeded American this year, or as she puts it "a lone flag waving gently in the wind, " adding, "I don't know what has happened. People keep asking me and if I knew what is going on I would tell, but I don't. Hopefully, soon there will be some kind of resurgence but until that time I'll still be around carrying that flag. Serena will be back quite soon and both of us can still make some waves." As well as her singles defence, Venus is excited about entering the mixed doubles, since she is apparently attempting to collect all the titles from all of the Grand Slams before calling it a day. She will not play women's doubles "because I only play with Serena, " but says she has been approached by three males keen on partnering her.

Last year, with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas, she won one round at Wimbledon, but claims it helped her become singles champion.

Something else she has learned in the absence forced by her elbow injury is "the ability to accept my limitations and don't expect you'll be better next day." So now the aim is "staying healthy and really getting in the groove." Hopefully in time to do well at Wimbledon because it means more to her than any other tournament.

"Wimbledon is the pinnacle, " proclaims Venus. And she stands primed to scale it once more.

WIMBLEDON 2006 Tomorrow . . . 9 July Live every day, TG4, BBC