Tennis-Open-I'm no trophy girl, says triumphant Serena

By Pritha Sarkar

NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - For someone who burst into exuberant celebrations after winning her ninth grand slam crown at the U.S. Open, Serena Williams made a startling admission.

"I'm not a big trophy girl," Williams told an invited group of journalists just 12 hours after her victory on Sunday night.

Asked if her growing collection of silverware was on display at home, she said: "No, not really. They are just kind of around. Maybe someday I'll show them to my kids."

Her cool response was in stark contrast to her reaction on Sunday after she beat Serbia's Jelena Jankovic 6-4 7-5 to clinch a third U.S. Open title.

After drilling a backhand crosscourt winner on match point, Williams flung her racket into the sky, shrieked and repeatedly leapt and skipped around court to celebrate her triumph.

The triumph also lifted the 26-year-old back to the summit of the world rankings for the first time since August 2003 and this time she does not want to let go.

"I want to hang on to it forever, or at least as long as I play. But I still have to put in the work, put in the time and do it," said Williams, who was ranked 81st when she won her last grand slam title at the Australian Open 20 months ago.

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