Serena reaches U.S. Open final
Williams will face 20-year-old Osaka for women’s title
NEW YORK — Serena Williams was a bit shaky at the start of her U.S. Open semifinal.
For six minutes. That’s how long it took her to drop the opening two games Thursday night. Williams spent the next hour playing flawlessly, particularly up at the net, grabbing 12 of 13 games to beat No. 19 seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-3, 6-0 and reach her ninth final at Flushing Meadows and 31st at all Grand Slam tournaments.
“I’ve been working hard on my volleys. I have won a few doubles championships, so I know how to volley,” Williams said with a laugh, before adding this punch line: “I just usually come in only to shake hands.”
With one more victory, Williams will earn her seventh U.S. Open championship and her 24th major singles trophy, equaling Margaret Court for the most in tennis history. Williams already owns the mark for the most in the halfcentury professional era; Court won some of hers against amateur competition.
On Saturday, Williams will face No. 20 seed Naomi Osaka, a 20-year-old who is the first Japanese woman to reach a Grand Slam final.
Osaka saved all 13 break points she faced Thursday and defeated 2017 runner-up Madison
Keys 6-2, 6-4.
Asked during her oncourt interview how she managed to stave off all of those break chances, Osaka replied with a laugh, “This is going to sound really bad, but I was just thinking, ‘I really want to play Serena.’” Why? “Because she’s Serena,” Osaka said. “Like, what do you mean?”
Williams had lost in the semifinals in her previous two trips to New York — against Roberta Vinci in 2015 while bidding for a calendar-year Grand Slam, and against Karolina Pliskova in 2016.
A year ago, Williams missed the U.S. Open because she gave birth to her daughter, Olympia, during the tournament. She then dealt with complications related to blood clots.
The American returned to the tour in February and to Grand Slam action at the French Open in May, when she had to withdraw from the field with an injured chest muscle. At her second major back, Wimbledon, she was the runner-up.
Now comes a chance to take a title and become, a few weeks shy of turning 37, the oldest woman to win a Slam in singles.
“It’s honestly really incredible. A year ago, I was fighting for, literally, my life at the hospital after I had the baby,” Williams said, her voice wavering. “So every day I step out on this court, I am so grateful that I have an opportunity to play this sport, you know? So no matter what happens in any match — semis, finals — I just feel like I’ve already won.”
Osaka is at the beginning of what could be a marvelous career. She is the youngest woman to reach a U.S. Open final since 2009 and has only one tour-level title, which came on a hard court this season.
She was born in Japan, but moved to New York at the age of 3 and is based in Florida.
“Mom, I did it. I love you. Thank you,” Osaka said during her interview. Up in the stands, her mother put two thumbs up and applauded.
Encouraged to direct a message to Williams, Osaka said, “I love you,” then giggled and covered her face, before adding, “I love everybody.”