CALM AND EASY
Serena serenely rolls into Wimby final
WIMBLEDON, England — Hours before her Wimbledon semifinal, Serena Williams spent some time deep in thought and arrived at a couple of conclusions.
For one thing, she shouldn’t focus too much on trying to raise her Grand Slam title total to 24, a number achieved by just one other player in tennis history. And for another, she needs to stay calm on the court.
With that in mind, Williams went out Thursday and made it all look easy, overwhelming Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2 in 59 minutes to once again put herself on the verge of an eighth championship at the All England Club and major No. 24 overall.
“It’s really not about 24 or 23 or 25. It’s really just about going out there and giving my best effort, no matter what. No matter what I do, I will always have a great career,” said Williams, who at 37 is the oldest woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the professional era. “Like, I just kind of let it go this morning.”
On Saturday, she will take on seventh-seeded Simona Halep of Romania, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine under a cloudy sky at Centre Court.
It’s Williams’ 11th final at the All England Club and the first for Halep, whose only major trophy came at the French Open last year.
They’ve played each other 10 previous times, with Williams winning nine, including a three-setter at the Australian Open in January.
“I respect a lot what she has done and what she’s doing,” said Halep, who, like Williams, used to be ranked No. 1. “But now I feel stronger, mentally, facing her. We will see what is going to happen. It’s just a big challenge for me.”
For anyone, really, when Williams is at her best.
And after an up-anddown first half of the year, due in part to injury and illness, she sure does appear to have lifted her level considerably.
Williams was limited to 12 matches in 2019 until last week. After a third-round loss at Roland Garros on June 1, she stayed in France for medical treatment and finally felt pain-free while preparing for Wimbledon.
“Well, if she will play like this in the final,” said Strycova, 33, the oldest firsttime Grand Slam semifinalist in the modern era, “it’s going to be very hard for Simona.”
After a three-set struggle Tuesday against Alison Riske in the quarterfinals, Williams was dominant against Strycova, who was limited by a leg muscle problem that cropped up in the very first game.
Williams played cleanly, accumulating nearly twice as many winners as unforced errors, 28-10. She was at her usual court-covering best, which helped limit Strycova to 10 winners.
Williams has been this close to adding to her title total before: In 2018, her first season back on tour after the birth of her daughter, Olympia, Williams reached the finals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open but lost each time.
That has left her at 23 Grand Slams, a record for the professional era that she established when she won the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant — but one fewer than Margaret Court accumulated while playing part of her career against amateur competition.
“I just need to ... relax and do what I can do,” Williams said, referring again to her deep thoughts from the morning.
“I was calm today,” she said, then rolled her eyes and added: “It’s a day-to-day basis with me. We all know that. I’m far from perfect.”