And the 37-year-old was happy to pose in a dazzling series of snaps for the cover of the US style-bible publication.

Williams, for so long an outspoken champion of equality, modelled in a gold dress which flashed her legs – and in one pic her naked backside.

The whole series of pictures were published without being re-touched by computer programs, with the feature being one titled “The Naked Truth”.

She is portrayed in the latest edition of Harper’s Bazaar which was released in America this morning.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Williams was on court against fellow American Alison Riske battling it out in a tense quarter-final on Centre Court.

Williams eventually came through the winner after three tough sets, and now faces the unseeded Barbora Strycova in the last-four on Thursday looking for a place in another final.

The superstar, with 37 Grand Slam titles to her name, is also trying to win in the Mixed Doubles this year having teamed up with Andy Murray.

And after a year blighted by injuries through the first half of the season, she says she is starting to finally feel as though she is approaching the peak of her fitness.

Serena said: “I haven’t had a tremendous amount of time to prepare for this.

“But, you know, like I said in the beginning of this tournament, each and every match for me has to count as, like, five or ten matches because I have not played a lot.

“This is the first time since Australia that I actually felt, like, good. It’s been a really, really long year for me already, and hard year, because I’m usually not typically injured.

“I don’t know where I am. I do know I feel good.

“Now that I feel good, I can actually focus on training and technique and practice, something that I just literally haven’t been able to do a lot of.”

2Williams is on the cover of the latest Harper’s Bazaar as she attempts to win an eighth title at Wimbledon