Serena keeps calm, carries on
Williams rallies from set down to reach semis
LONDON — There are moments in which nothing seems different about Serena Williams, moments such as when she unleashed a 109 mph service winner to even her Wimbledon quarterfinal at a set apiece, leaned forward and yelled, ‘‘Come on!’’
Or when, about 10 minutes later, she stretched for a lunging backhand winner to break at love and take control of the third set, then raised a fist, figuring a berth in her 11th semifinal at the All England Club was close at hand.
And after Williams came up with a comeback to beat Camila Giorgi 3-6, 6-3, 6- 4 on Tuesday, she headed off Centre Court with her right index finger aloft. Yes, no matter what the rankings or seedings say, no matter how long she was away, Williams still looks capable of playing like someone who’s No. 1, just about 10 months after having a baby daughter.
‘‘Everything right now is a little bit of a surprise,’’ Williams said. ‘‘To be here. To be in the semifinals. I mean, I always say I plan on it. . . . But when it actually happens, it still is, like, ‘ Wow, this is really happening.’ ’’
So what if she’s still getting her game in gear? So what if Giorgi didn’t seem to miss while moving out to that early lead? Williams never was worried about losing.
‘‘It’s weird,’’ Williams said. ‘‘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, I thought: ‘Well, she’s playing great. I’m doing a lot of the right things.’ ’’
Asked whether that might represent a new way of looking at things, Williams smiled.
‘‘No,’’ she said. ‘‘Just to be clear, that was just today. I mean, I’m hoping this is, like, a new thing. Honestly, I highly doubt it.’’
Next up for Williams as she tries to earn her eighth title at the All England Club and her 24th Grand Slam singles trophy overall will be a match Thursday against 13thseeded Julia Goerges, a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 winner against Kiki Bertens.
‘‘It’s pretty unreal for me,’’ said Goerges, who reached her first major semifinal at a tournament where she exited in the first round in each of the last five years.
The other semifinal will pit 11thseeded Angelique Kerber against 12th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko. Kerber owns two Grand Slam titles and was the runner-up to Williams at Wimbledon two years ago. Ostapenko won the French Open last year.
The All England Club seeded Williams 25th as a nod to all of her past success at Wimbledon, including titles the last two times she entered (2015 and 2016). Williams missed Wimbledon a year ago because she was pregnant and went about 16 months between Grand Slam tournaments, so her ranking is just outside the top 180.
That is going to change now. Told she is guaranteed of rising to 51st next week — and higher if she reaches the final or wins the championship — Williams joked: ‘‘Serena Williams, 51? Eh, it doesn’t have that same ring to it. The ‘1’ part does, but not the ‘5.’ ’’