Serena Williams feels battle-hardened and ready to add a sixth Wimbledon crown to her grand slam collection with victory in her eighth final at the All England Club.
The world number one faces Spanish surprise packet Garbine Muguruza, a first-time grand slam finalist, and says her torrid early-round comeback wins over Victoria Azarenka and Heather Watson have her primed for the title match.
"Like I always say, I would prefer to have an easier match. But when you have a tough match and you're able to come through, obviously that really helps," Williams said after a crushing Maria Sharapova 6-2 6-4 in a semi-final cruise.
The winner of 38 out of 39 outings in 2015, Williams has more tennis history at her mercy against Muguruza, a 6-2 3-6 6-3 semi-final victor over Polish 13th seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
The American can complete another "Serena Slam" by holding all four major trophies for the second time, a feat the ageless champion last achieved 12 years ago.
But the topic - as well as the chance to also be the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to secure a calendar-year sweep of tennis's four majors - has been off limits since before the championships.
"I don't what the pressure of that, and I'm not thinking of that," Williams maintained after continuing her 11-year mastery of Sharapova.
The all-conquering top seed also enters her 25th grand slam final seeking a 21st major title to close to within one of Graf's open-era benchmark 22 singles slams.
Standing in her way is the Venezuela-born, Barcelona-raised Muguruza, the world number 20 who upended Williams in last year's French Open.
It was a chastening defeat that motivated Williams to get even better and the 33-year-old has since embarked on a 27-match grand slam winning streak.
"It was an eye-opening loss for me," said the reigning US, Australian and French Open champion.
"Some losses you're angry about and some losses you learn from. That loss I think I learned the most from in a long time.
"I got so much better after that loss. I was able to improve a lot. I worked on things.
"I didn't see the results straightaway. But months later I started seeing the results more and more.
"I don't want to lose to anyone at a grand slam."
1-SERENA WILLIAMS (USA) leads 20-GARBINE MUGURUZA (ESP) 2-1
2015 Australian Open, R16, hard, Williams 2-6 6-3 6-2
2014 French Open, R64, clay, Muguruza 6-2 6-2
2013 Australian Open, R64, hard, Williams 6-2 6-0
SERENA WILLIAMS
Age: 33 Born: Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Lives: Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA
Height: 175cm
Weight: 70kg
Ranking: 1
Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $US69,676,428 ($A93.85 million)
Career titles: 66
Career win-loss record: 715-121
Grand slam titles: 20 (Australian Open 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009-10, 2015; French Open 2002, 2013, 2015; Wimbledon 2002-03, 2009-10, 2012; US Open 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012-2014)
Grand slam win-loss record: 189-28
Wimbledon win-loss record: 78-10
Best Wimbledon performances: champion 2002-03, 2009-10, 2012
ROAD TO FINAL
1st rd: bt Margarita Gaspariyan (RUS) 6-4 6-1
2nd rd: bt Timea Babos (HUN) 6-4 6-1
3rd rd: bt Heather Watson (GBR) 6-2 4-6 7-5
4th rd: bt 16-Venus Williams (USA) 6-4 6-3
QF: bt 23-Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 3-6 6-2 6-3
SF: bt 4-Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-2 6-4
GARBINE MUGURUZA
Age: 21
Born: Caracas, Venezuela
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Height: 182cm
Weight: 73kg
Ranking: 20
Plays: right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money: $US2,543,146 ($A3.43 million)
Career titles: 1
Career win-loss record: 221-109
Grand slam titles: 0
Grand slam win-loss record: 23-10
Wimbledon win-loss record: 7-2
Best Wimbledon performances: finalist 2015
ROAD TO FINAL
1st rd: bt Varvara Lepchencko (USA) 6-4 6-1
2nd rd: bt Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) 6-3 4-6 6-2
3rd rd: bt 10-Angelique Kerber (GER) 7-6 1-6 6-2
4th rd: bt 5-Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 6-4 6-4
QF: bt 15-Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) 7-5 6-3
SF: bt 13-Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 6-2 3-6 6-3