WIMBLEDON Serena trying to regain last year's form

She could become just the third woman to win the event three straight years.
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Serena Williams says she would win more if she were less of a perfectionist.
Despite losing just three matches in 2004, Williams knows there's room for improvement, especially because it's been a year since she won a Grand Slam title. Ranked 10th but seeded No. 1, she'll begin a bid for her third consecutive Wimbledon title Tuesday.
"I'm really hard on myself," she said. "I just want to do it perfect every time. My dad is consistently telling me that: 'Serena, you've got to relax.' I think that's the only factor."
In other words, Williams figures the only way she can lose is by self-destructing like she did in the French Open, committing 45 unforced errors in a quarterfinal defeat against Jennifer Capriati.
Barely two weeks later, Williams chuckles discussing what she describes as her "suicide in Paris."
"I think a lot of people expect me to win 100 percent of the time," she said. "And I expect myself to win 200 percent of the time.
"You're not going to win every match, no matter how good you are. So if you think about it that way, then it's really not that bad."
Outside interests
That might sound like someone willing to settle for less than perfect, and critics contend Williams has won less lately because she's curtailed her commitment to tennis so she could spend more time acting and designing clothes.
And she seemed slightly disengaged Sunday when she said she didn't yet know who she will play in her opening match (answer: Zheng Jie).
Her pre-tournament news conference was typically wide-ranging, with topics including fashion designer Donatella Versace (Serena loves her), English soccer star David Beckham (she loves him) and the 1980s (she loves them, too).
"I'm really influenced by the '80s," said Williams, born in 1981. "I like the fashion more than anything. I like the whole sleeve off [the shoulder], the gold, the hairstyle, the big curly hair. I've been wearing my hair really big and curly lately."
Back to tennis: Williams will silence any criticism if she becomes only the third woman in the past 35 years to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles. She has defeated older sister Venus in the final each of the past two years and is again the woman to beat, especially with Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters absent.
Serena offered tongue-in-cheek advice for the two injured Belgians.
"Enjoy the time off," she said. "Take as long as you want. Go out. Live a little."
The Williams sisters know all about injuries themselves. Serena underwent knee surgery after winning Wimbledon in 2003, took eight months to recover and has battled rustiness while playing just 19 matches this year.
Venus has been slowed in the past year by abdominal and ankle injuries. At the French Open they lost in the same round, the first time that's happened.
But Venus won Wimbledon in 2000 and 2001, and the last time either sister lost to a player outside the family at Wimbledon was in 2001, when Capriati beat Serena in the quarterfinals. Excluding sibling showdowns, the sisters' tournament record since 2000 is 46-1.
On the other hand, outside competition has won the past three major titles -- Anastasia Myskina in the French Open and Henin-Hardenne in the Australian and U.S. Opens. The domination of the WTA Tour by Serena and Venus is on hiatus, if not history.