Serena weathers storm on way to semis

LONDON – For 35 minutes on Center Court Serena Williams was knocked off her stride by a feisty Italian who looked as though she had ripped a page from the American’s tennis manual.

Playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, unseeded Camila Giorgi went toe-to-toe with the seven-time champion and became the first player to take a set off her so far.

All eyes were on 36-year-old mum Williams to see how she would respond to such a challenge to her supremacy at Wimbledon, where she is unbeaten since 2014. The answer was emphatic. Williams raised her intensity level, added some velocity to her groundstrokes and some decibels to her growls and powered back to win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, a scoreline that was a touch closer than what actually transpired on court.

Williams has fallen 13 times in Grand Slam quarterfinals – more than in any other round – but was never panicked.

“It’s weird. Sometimes I feel, ‘Man, I’m in trouble’. Sometimes I feel, I can fight. For whatever reason, today I was so calm. Even when I was down the first set,” Williams who ended with 24 winners and only nine unforced errors, said.

“I never felt it was out of my hands. I can’t describe it. I just felt calm. Hoping I can channel that all the time.”

With an unprecedented cull of big names at this year’s championship, Williams is yet to face a seed, but that will change in the semis where Julia Gorges, the 13th seed, awaits.

Gorges turned back Kiki Bertens, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, while No. 11 Angelique Kerber trounced Daria Kasatkina, 6-3, 7-5, to set up the other semis clash with No. 12 Jejena Ostapenko, who repelled Dominika Cibulkova, 7-5, 6-4.