Serena once again rises out of the ashes in New York
Thiem says defeat to Nadal will haunt him ‘forever’
Serena Williams has played in many a showplace during her 23 years as a tennis pro, but there can be no other court on the planet that stirs up a motherlode of memories like Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It is the cacophonous spot where she became the first Williams sister to secure a major singles title, winning the US Open in 1999. It is where she would prevail five more times, in 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The court has changed colour through the years — from green to blue — and added a roof along the way. But this is still the same place where Williams melted down against Kim Clijsters in the 2009 semi-finals, threatening a line judge, and where she tightened up and failed to complete the true Grand Slam in 2015 by losing to the unseeded Italian Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals.
What has happened in Ashe, the shorthand the players use, has defined her and redefined her as a tennis champion, but unlike so many great players of her generation, she is still coming back for more.
And on Tuesday night, with a crowd of 23,771 providing consistent support, she powered her way back into the semi-finals ■ with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 8 seed Karolina Pliskova.
At 36, Williams has also edged closer to tying Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. This is Williams’ third major tournament since returning to the circuit in March after giving birth to her daughter, and she fell just one win short of the record at Wimbledon in July, losing to Angelique Kerber in straight sets in a final where Williams struggled to manage the moment emotionally.
In the other half of the draw, where the quarters was to be played yesterday, the two highest ranked players remaining, No. 14 Madison Keys and No. 19 Naomi Osaka, have huge baseline power and formidable first serves but have yet to prove they have the consistency and mentality required to win a major.
‘This is the best tennis’
“Serena’s the favourite, oh, she’s the favourite,” said Rennae Stubbs, who is working as a coaching consulting with Pliskova and will soon begin coaching her more formally “This is the best tennis I’ve seen her play since she came back.” For Serena, it was her first victory over a top-10 player since her return to the circuit.
“Shocking,” Williams said. “My first top-10 win. I really felt like I was playing well in Cincinnati, even though I lost. I was just on the verge. If I could have had just one more match before I played a top 10 player, I think I would have done better. I’m getting those matches now. Just was so light on the matches.
On the men’s side of the draw, Dominic Thiem said his epic defeat to close friend Rafael Nadal
Men’s quarter finals:
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Rafael Nadal (ESP x1) beat Dominic Thiem (AUT x9) 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x3) beat John Isner (USA x11) 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-2.
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Serena Williams (USA x17) beat Karolmna Plmskova (CZE x8) 6-4, 6-3. Anastasija Sevastova (LAT x19) beat Sloane Stephens (USA x3) 6-2, 6-3.
Women’s quarter finals:
in the US Open quarter-finals will “stay with me forever”.
Defending champion Nadal downed battling ninth seed Thiem 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 to reach the semi-finals for the seventh time. In a gripping 4-hour 49-minute contest, which concluded at 2.04am (local time) on Wednesday, world No 1 Nadal won through to keep his bid for a fourth title in New York and 18th Grand Slam crown on track.
Forever I’m going to remember this match, for sure,” said Thiem after his first ever hard court match against Nadal. “Tennis is cruel sometimes because I think this match didn’t really deserve a loser. But there has to be one. It ended up in the fifth set tiebreaker, there it’s 50/50. He made one more point than me.”