Serena Williams clenches her fists and lets out a great shriek.

"Errrrgh!" And another. "Errrrgh!"

She cannot wait for London 2012 but the subject of the Olympics brings back the memory of her quarter-final defeat in the singles in Beijing. Hence the explosion of frustration.

"2012's just around the corner," says Serena. "Venus and I are so going to be there. We are already talking about how exciting that will be on grass. What a great moment.

"But I could have won the singles last time. I was up 4-1 against the girl who went on to win it (Elena Dementieva) with an easy shot to go 5-1. And I lost."

Clearly, it still rankles, even though she has won gold twice in the doubles with sister Venus in 2000 and 2008.

At 28, however, the ambition still sparkles from Serena like the huge silver earrings and bangles she is wearing as she relaxes in London's Dorchester hotel.

She is here to plug her autobiography, 'Queen of the Court', published by Simon & Schuster, with a whistle-stop round of interviews - after winning the end of season tournament in Doha when she beat Venus in the final and regained her ranking as number one in the world.

She also picked up a cheque for £950,000, which already she has made a small dent in by buying eight rugs for her new house and a dress for herself.

The Williams story is the most extraordinary in sport. A tale of sibling love and rivalry. And a dad and mentor in Richard who read that top tennis players could earn a fortune and told his wife Oracene that they would have two daughters who would dominate the sport.

The rest is history. How the sisters had to duck to avoid the bullets of drug gangs on the courts in Compton, California.

How they were taught at home and only allowed to practise against adults.

How the dad's dream came true when at 17 Venus reached the final of the US Open at her first attempt and two years later, Serena, also 17, won it.

A decade later Serena has 11 Grand slam singles titles to her name, Venus seven.

"The best champions don't play for money," says Serena. "Everybody these days wants to be famous, wants to get rich quick. But it's about putting a lot of hard work into it. People lose sight of that. People who are the best of the best they work hard. It didn't come overnight.

"I was doing this since I was three. I didn't make it until 15 years later. That's a lot of time and effort."

The rewards have been colossal. Serena's prize winnings alone stands at almost £17million, more than any other woman in tennis.

Her sponsorship deal with Nike is worth £24.5million. Then there's an acting career which has seen her appear in ER and Law & Order, and a fashion range called Aneres - her name backwards.

And the book, which among other things sees her face up to her emotions in the wake of the killing of her big sister Yetunde in a drive-by shooting on September 14, 2003.

She says: "After that tennis was about the last thing on my mind. It didn't seem important. I went through the motions of rehabbing and keeping in shape, but my heart wasn't in it and my head wasn't even close. I didn't know it at the time, but I was slipping into a depression."

She saw a therapist, two sessions a week. It helped, but Serena won only one major tournament in four years after Yetunde's death. She suffered horrendous knee injuries. She appeared more interested in Hollywood and fashion than tennis.

The breakthrough came when she embarked on charity work which culminated in her opening a school in Matooni, Kenya, which she helped fund called 'The Serena Williams Secondary School.'

Her eyes light up at the memory. They positively dance when she reveals she is going back there in February to open another one.

Giving, she agrees, is so much more rewarding than receiving.

"This is a chance for me to help others. I'm really into philanthropy," she says. "This isn't about me anymore. It's about people who look at me and are inspired by me who can be helped.

"I'd never felt that good winning a Wimbledon trophy or a US Open trophy or any of those Grand Slams. The closest feeling was the gold medal at the Olympics but I've never felt the same as when I cut that ribbon at that school.

"I just helped them out with basic things like computers. It helps their education and they can become doctors. If you can educate a few people it can help so many."

Serena is an enigma. She switches from chat about fashion and design like the black Lycra catsuit she wore at the US Open in 2002 to world issues almost in the same breath.

She laughs a lot. She is more likeable than she appears on court although I cannot take my eyes off her big bangle and her even bigger feet. Size 10 apparently. Venus is size 11.

I ask her to confirm she is dating American rapper Common but she comes over all coy.

"I'm seeing someone," she admits.

Is he the one?

"Maybe, but I don't like to talk about it. It jinxes it more than anything. That's my reasoning."

She has reassessed, however, the number of children she wants.

"I used to want four but my clock's ticking so I am down to three now," she said.

Will they play tennis?

"I don't think so. I don't want them to have to win more titles than mommy. That pressure might be a little too much. Something definitely athletic though."

Not that she has any thoughts of quitting just yet, especially after hitting the number one spot for the fifth time in her career and with that gold medal in London to go for.

Asked to describe herself in three words she chooses: Funny. Intelligent. Cunning.

Cunning? "I always have something up my sleeve. My mum makes fun of me all the time about that."

It perhaps explains why the Williamses have rewritten tennis history. Is that something they appreciate?

"No. I don't know if Venus does but I don't," says Serena. "And I don't want to yet. I feel if I do I could become complacent and say 'okay, I don't have to play anymore or do anything anymore.'

"But I don't want to stop. I don't ever want to become complacent until my career is over and then I'll look at all the articles about me."

At that point she has some serious reading ahead of her.