UNSTOPPABLE
Ailing Serena eases back into French Open final.
PARIS • Lucie Safarova triumphed over her nerves Thursday, Serena Williams over her health.
Now, they will meet in the French Open final.
It is an unexpected matchup for Williams, the undisputed No. 1 player, as she takes aim at her 20th Grand Slam singles title.
But Safarova, a Czech veteran who will be playing in her first major final at the advanced tennis age of 28, has certainly earned her spot.
Seeded No. 13, Safarova has made her own luck at Roland Garros, sweeping through a brutal draw without the loss of a set. On Thursday, she defeated seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic, 7-5, 7-5, keeping her cool and securing the victory after double-faulting on her first match point and failing to hold her serve.
“I was really, like, overthinking and couldn’t really concentrate to be there in the moment,” Safarova said of that lost service game.
It is one of the great challenges of tennis, a sport where there is so much time to think: on the changeovers, between points, between serves.
Williams has had her troubles focusing on the essential, too: some of them on the same Philippe Chatrier Court where she stared down another deficit in the day’s second semifinal, against Timea Bacsinszky.
It has been a shaky French Open for Williams, and she wobbled plenty more against the clever, determined Bacsinszky. Apparently ill, Williams looked on the verge of toppling over on the clay on several occasions, but generally looked much more stable when the ball was in play.
She had lost the first set in three consecutive matches before defeating Sara Errani in straight sets in the quarterfinals. But Bacsinszky, the No. 23 seed playing in her first major semifinal, put Williams in a hole again, winning the first set, 6-4, and going up a break of serve at 3-2 in the second.
It should come as no surprise at this late stage of Williams’s up-and-down (and mostly up) career that it was all Williams from there.
Despite reaching for her ice towel like a lifeline on changeovers and occasionally dribbling balls off her feet as she prepared to serve, she swept through the next 10 games to win, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
When Bacsinszky’s last shot sailed long, Williams turned slowly and looked at her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou; her mother, Oracene Price; and others in her box, appearing more relieved than delighted.
She then cut short her postmatch interview on court because of a coughing fit, gathered her equipment and walked slowly toward the exit.
Williams, 33, will now have a chance to win her third French Open championship after her titles in 2002 and 2013. If healthy (and maybe even if not) she will be the heavy favourite against Safarova, whom she has beaten in all eight of their previous matches.
“That’s true,” acknowledged Rob Steckley, Safarova’s bearded and upbeat coach. “But we’re getting closer every time.”
Their most recent match, in the round of 16 in Beijing last year, went three sets before Williams won, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.
“It’s a lot down to experience,” Steckley said. “Not only is Serena the best ever to play, she’s still human.”
Safarova, a left-hander with a particularly potent forehand, upset Maria Sharapova, the No. 2 seed and defending champion, in the fourth round. She then beat the promising, hardhitting Garbine Muguruza in the quarter-finals and Ivanovic, the 2008 champion here who also strikes the ball with plenty of pace.
Safarova also faced one of the game’s other biggest servers — Sabine Lisicki — in the third round. In short, Safarova should be ready for Williams-style power.
The problem is that Williams, when it comes to major finals, is rarely as vulnerable as in earlier rounds. She is 194 in Grand Slam singles finals and has won six in a row, her last loss coming to Samantha Stosur at the 2011 U.S. Open.
But that match was played without a day’s rest between the semifinal and the final. Williams will have a full day to recover for Saturday’s final and looked very much in need of rest as she leaned on her racket like a crutch between points, only to spring to life with the ball in play.
Safarova, a popular figure on the women’s tour, long struggled with her nerves in singles but is now producing strong results under Grand Slam pressure. She reached her first major semifinal at Wimbledon last year.
She also has retooled her technique with the help of Steckley, a former touring professional from Toronto, trying to get her body weight farther forward on her groundstrokes instead of sticking with an open stance. Steckley said she had used visualization lately to keep herself focused on the point at hand instead of the consequences.
He also has tried to make her more aware of the importance of projecting selfassurance.
“It’s as simple as this,” Steckley said. “In practice, if you go and make a call, make it with confidence, I tell her. Because sometimes she’s not so sure and gives it away, even though it’s clearly on the line. It’s not that you’re not being nice. You’re sending the signal to the other player that they are able to come and enter into your territory. So that was one of the things we’ve tried to toughen up a little. Not to be a jerk but just don’t let it all come onto your shoulders. Don’t be a pushover.”
Earlier in Safarova’s career, a shaky game like the one she played when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set might have led to defeat. She served three double faults in the game, including one on her first match point.
“My serve wasn’t working, and yes, it was a little bit fighting with everything on the court at that moment,” Safarova said. “But when I lost the serve, I shake it off and started to play aggressive again.”
Safarova had a second chance to serve for a place in the final, and this time, there were no double faults. After the winning point, she dropped her racket and fell flat on the clay.
“I have been on tour, it’s my 12th year,” she said. “You appreciate it much more.”