Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Quick work
Williams defeats Wang in straight sets; Dimitrov tops Federer
NEW YORK — The numbers associated with Serena Williams’ U.S. Open quarterfinal victory were so stark , they bear reading more than once.
Winners: 25-0. Points: 5015. Minutes: 44. Score: 6-1, 6-0.
This is the portion of the tournament that is supposed to be where winning a Grand Slam title gets difficult, where the remaining players are among the very best opposition around. And yet there was Williams in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night, making one of the last eight women in the draw, someone ranked No. 18 in a world of billions, look and feel completely overwhelmed.
“Didn’t give her too many chances,” Williams said.
A reporter wanted to know what surprised Wang the most about being across the net from Williams for the first time.
“Power,” came the answer. The way she hit groundstrokes from the baseline? The way she served?
“Everything,” Wang said with a smile.
Looking as dominant as can be as she moved closer to a 24th Grand Slam singles trophy and seventh U.S. Open championship, Williams was not troubled one bit by the right ankle she rolled in her previous match.
“Physically, I’m feeling great,” Williams said, “and more than anything, I’m having fun every time I come out here.”
Against Wang, who was making her debut in a major quarterfinal, Williams grabbed the first five games in about 15 minutes. Then, after dropping one game, Williams collected the next 11 points to start a seven-game run the rest of the way.
She controlled pretty much every point, pretty much from the start, regardless of whether she was serving or returning. She hit the ball hard, well and true, pushing Wang around and rarely letting her get into position for a proper reply. Williams was so dialed in, there weren’t all that many occasions to test her ankle, but on those rare instances when she did need to run, she appeared to be more than OK.
That’s a big reason that Wang could not manage even one winner.
“Yeah, that’s a good stat for me. It’s good because I want to be able to move around the court. I move when I want to move,” Williams said. “I guess I wanted to move tonight.”
This was her 100th match win at the U.S. Open, dating to her debut in 1998 as a teen.
“From when I first started here … I never thought that I would get to 100. Didn’t even cross my mind I would still be out here,” said Williams who turns 38 later this month. “But I love what I do.”
The American will face No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a berth in the final. Svitolina eliminated 16th-seeded Johanna Konta of Britain 6-4, 6-4 earlier Tuesday.
“She gets a lot of balls back. She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes,” Williams said about Svitolina, who beat her at the 2016 Rio Olympics. “She’s one of those players that does everything really well. So I have to do everything well, too.”
With her boyfriend, Gael Monfils, watching in the stands, Svitolina got to the semifinals at a second consecutive major tournament after never having been
that far before.
“Now,” Svitolina joked about Monfils, “he needs to step up his game.”
Monfils, who is seeded No. 13, plays No. 24 Matteo Berrettini in one of the men’s quarterfinals today, when Rafael Nadal meets No. 20 Diego Schwartzman in the other. The women on the schedule today: No. 13 Belinda Bencic vs. Donna Vekic, and Bianca Andreescu vs. No. 25 Elise Mertens.
On the men’s side Tuesday night, Roger Federer gave away a lead against a guy he’d never lost to and was beaten 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 by 78th-ranked Grigor Dimitrov.
The 38-year-old Federer took a rare-for-him medical timeout after the fourth set, leaving the court with a trainer. It was not immediately
clear what might have been wrong with Federer, although he did appear to be flexing his back after some points.
When play resumed after a break of nearly 10 minutes, Federer’s form never picked up. He finished with 61 unforced errors, 33 on the forehand side.
Federer had been 7-0 against Dimitrov, taking 16 of their previous 18 sets.
Federer would have been the oldest Grand Slam semifinalist since Jimmy Connors was 39 at Flushing Meadows in 1991. He also was trying to add to his totals of five U.S. Open championships and 20 major trophies in all.
Instead, Dimitrov advanced to his third major semifinal, first in New York. He will face No. 5 Daniil Medvedev on Friday.