Serena 2 for 2, wins in singles, mixed doubles
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND >> Serena Williams walked into her news conference at Wimbledon holding her phone, a cold bottle of water and a statistics sheet that reinforced what was clear from watching her third-round singles victory Saturday: She is as close to being back to her best as she’s been in a while.
Williams, hampered for much of this season by injuries or illness, took a step forward against 18thseeded Julia Goerges, a powerful hitter in her own right who lost to the American in last year’s semifinals at the All England Club. Sure enough, Williams hit serves at up to 120 mph, put in a tournamentbest 71 percent of her first serves, never faced so much as one break point and won 6-3, 6-4.
“It’s been an arduous year for me,” said Williams, who had competed only 12 times in 2019 until this week, mostly because of a bothersome left knee that finally is pain-free. “So every match, I’m hoping to improve tons.”
Maybe it was a good thing she played twice Saturday, then.
About 4½ hours after getting past Goerges at No. 1 Court, Williams headed out to Centre
AT A GLANCE
A quick look at Wimbledon: LOOKAHEAD TO MONDAY
There is no play on the middle Sunday at Wimbledon. Play will resume Monday with all men’s and women’s fourthround matches.
The men’s matchups are: No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Ugo Humbert; No. 2Roger Federer vs. No. 17 Matteo Berrettini; No.
3 Rafael Nadal vs. Joao Sousa; No. 8 Kei Nishikori vs. Mikhail Kukushkin; No. 15 Milos Raonic vs. No. 26 Guido Pella; No.
21 David Goffin vs. Fernando Verdasco; No. 23Roberto Bautista Agut vs. No. 28 Court for her much-ballyhooed debut as Andy Murray’s teammate in mixed doubles. Other than one slip near the net when she lost her footing in the first set — she was fine and laughed it off — Williams looked good during the 6-4, 6-1 win against Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi, including smacking one serve at 122 mph, equaling the fastest hit in singles by any woman (her, naturally) during the tournament.
“Andy and I both love the competition. I know we both want to do well,” Williams said. “We’re not here just for show.”
She rarely is. But if Williams is going to win an eighth singles championship at Wimbledon, and a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title overall, she will want more performances like the one she gave against Goerges.
Forceful, yes, but nothing was forced. “I play pretty good when I’m calm, but also super-intense, just finding the balance in between there,” Williams, 37, said. “So it’s a hard balance to find, because sometimes when I’m too calm, I don’t have enough energy. Still trying to find that balance.”
In the men’s draw, eight-time champion Roger Federer and twotime winner Rafael Nadal both won in straight sets to move closer Benoit Paire; Sam Querrey vs. Tennys Sandgren.
The women’s matchups are: No. 1 Ash Barty vs. Alison Riske; No. 3Karolina Pliskova vs. Karolina Muchova; No. 6 Petra Kvitova vs. No. 19 Johanna Konta; No. 7 Simona Halep vs. Coco Gauff; No. 8Elina Svitolina vs. No. 24Petra Martic; No. 11 Serena Williams vs. No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro; No. 21Elise Mertens vs. Barbora Strycova; Zhang Shuai vs. Dayana Yastremska.
MONDAY’S FORECAST
Partly cloudy. High of 71degrees
to a semifinal showdown. Federer’s record 17th visit to the fourth round at Wimbledon will come against No. 17 Matteo Berrettini.
“For me, I’m very happy how it’s going so far,” said Federer, a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (4) winner over No. SATURDAY’S KEY RESULTS Men’s third round: No. 2 Roger Federer beat No. 27 Lucas Pouille 7-5, 6-2,
7-6 (4); No. 3 Rafael Nadal beat JoWilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2; No. 8 Kei Nishikori beat Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-3,
6-2; Tennys Sandgren beat No. 12 Fabio Fognini 6-3, 7-6 (12), 6-3.
Women’s third round: No. 1Ash Barty beat Harriet Dart 6-1, 6-1; Barbora Strycova beat No. 4Kiki Bertens 7-5, 6-1; No. 6 Petra Kvitova beat Magda Linette
6-3, 6-2; No. 11 Serena Williams beat No. 18 Julia Goerges 6-3, 6-4.
Mixed doubles first round: Andy Murray
27 Lucas Pouille. “I hope it’s going to take a special performance from somebody to stop me, not just a mediocre performance.”
Nadal, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, meets unseeded Joao Sousa next. and Serena Williams beat Andreas Mies and Alexa Guarachi 6-4, 6-1. STAT OF THE DAY
17: The number of times Roger Federer has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, eclipsing Jimmy Connors’ previous record of 16.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We’re both the younger sibling, so we’re used to being bossed by our older brother and sister.” - Andy Murray on whether he or Serena Williams is the boss in their mixed doubles team.