Serena: Loud and Clear

Serena fired 15 aces in an explosive first-round victory. She also fired a message to the rest of the field: She's ready to repeat.

Her opponent brought the noise, but Serena brought the heat.

A title-hungry Serena Williams sent a serious message to the rest of the women's field at Wimbledon today, when she blasted fifteen aces and didn't lose a single point on her first serve against Michelle Larcher de Britto of Portugal.

Williams, who has never lost before the third round at Wimbledon, will now prepare to face Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in the 2nd round.

If Serena's focus and intensity are any indication of the kind of effort she is going to put forth, Chakvetadze might want to invest in a Kevlar vest for their upcoming encounter.

Still, as decisive as her victory was, Serena saw room for improvement. "I'd like to come to the net more," she said. "I think that's something I could have done better."

Venus' little sister is also finding time to work on her curtsy for the Queen of England, who'll be visiting Wimbledon for the first time in thirty-three years on Thursday. "I was going to curtsy on the court today afterwards, but I think I flubbed it."

As usual, her post-match presser covered topics as far-ranging as her nails, her dress, World Cup soccer, and the Queen. There were laughs, and a lot of joking. But don't let the levity fool you into thinking that Serena isn't dead set on destruction here at Wimbledon. She had that look of determination in her eyes from the very first point today, and if there is one thing she is she is very serious about it is repeating here as Wimbledon Champion for the second time in her career and solidifying her spot atop the WTA's rankings.

She's also anxious to get the bad taste out of her mouth from the French Open, and she alluded to that today. "Well, I served so terrible in my last match at the French," she said, when asked about her light-out serving performance against Larcher de Britto. "I went home and worked really hard on my serve. I was incredibly disappointed with it. I had a talk with my serve. I said, you know, we got to do a little bit better."

Whatever Serena said to her serve, it must have made sense.