Legends Federer, Serena cruising, but now it gets tough
Roger Federer and Serena Williams both cruised through the early rounds of yet another major, both continuing to prove they’re seemingly immune to that little thing called age.
On Manic Monday at Wimbledon, Roger blew 17th seed Matteo Berrettini off the court in 74 minutes, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2, during their Round of 16 matchup. True to form, he employed his pinpoint serve, heavy forehand, and a disgusting drop-shot volley at 15-0 in the final game of the third set that few mortals would ever have a chance of getting back over the net.
Serena overwhelmed 30th seed Carla Suarez Navarro with her typical combination of speed and power that no 37-year-old, especially one who has only played a handful of tournaments in 2019, should have any business possessing.
The two living legends are not the first players to make deep runs into majors in their late 30s, but the frequency — and consistency — with which they have done so over the past few years is rare, if not quite unprecedented. You’d have to go back to Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova in the late-’80s and early-’90s to find players in their late 30s who were not only challenging for majors, but maintaining a top-10 ranking.
This can be attributed in part to a wildly-inconsistent pool of players on the women’s side, and a youth contingent on the men’s side that is collectively incapable of seizing the tennis throne. We can also just call a spade a spade: Roger and Serena are more talented than their peers.
But over the past couple of years, the pattern for both players is that they will typically run through the draw with relative ease, until they step on the court one day and don’t. That is the point where they normally bow out of the tournament. Since the start of the 2018 season, only Federer has a single major to his name, despite each making it into the quarterfinals of a major three times apiece. Whether that was down to their bodies acting their actual age, or just the lack of fire that comes after you’ve won a historic number of majors, depends on the year and the tournament. But where a player in their prime might struggle more with staying focused enough and avoiding a shock exit in the early, winnable rounds, the challenge for both Roger and Serena is making sure they’re physically and mentally fit for the grueling second week of a major.
And heading into the homestretch of this year’s Wimbledon, they have their work cut out for them.
Serena faced the unseeded, 29-year-old American Alison Riske on Tuesday, who was a favorable matchup on paper. (The veteran player is currently ranked 89th in the world.) But Riske took out the 22nd seed, the 13th seed, and top-seeded Ashley Barty en route to her clash in the Quarters with Serena. And she then gave Williams plenty of problems in a closely contested match, breaking the seven-time Wimbledon five times and taking Serena to three sets.
Serena will next face Barbora Strycova, who dispatched 19th-seeded Johanna Konta in straight sets on Tuesday. Assuming she prevails in that match (Strycova has made the quarters of a major just once in her 16-year career), she will face Simona Halep in the final, who happened to be the same player who bounced her from this year’s Australian open.
Federer, meanwhile, has a date Wednesday with the 8 seed Kei Nishikori, who lives to grind out a five-set match more than anyone since Lleyton Hewitt. Grass may not be Nishikori’s specialty, but aside from his deep runs at the US Open — which include a final appearance — his two quarterfinal appearances at Wimbledon are as deep as he’s gone at any other major. Nishikori, and his willingness to endlessly run down balls up and down the court, is the exact type of playing style that can give Federer problems if his serve and/or forehand aren’t clicking on a given day.
Federer could potentially face Rafa Nadal in the semis, and Novak Djokovic in the final —the only two players who have had any sort of consistent success against Federer.
Neither path to another Wimbledon trophy is out of the question for either player, but we’ve reached the point of the fortnight where the only people who would confidently bet money on that outcome are those willing to part with their money.