Serena comes through in the clutch
Serena Williams rallied from a break down in the final set to defeat Alison Riske 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Williams will play Barbora Strycova on Thursday in the semifinals.
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND
Slowed by a balky ankle and trailing by a service break in the third set of her Wimbledon quarterfinal, Serena Williams appeared to be in trouble Tuesday against an opponent playing the tournament of her life.
Williams was down, yes. But out? No way. And now she is two victories from that 24th Grand Slam title that has been barely eluding her.
Lifting her play a much-needed notch down the stretch to grab the last three games, capping the comeback with her 19th ace — at 121 mph — Williams reached the semifinals at the All England Club by gutting out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over 55th-ranked Alison Riske.
“I had to just button up and play hard,” said Williams, who owns
seven Wimbledon titles. “She was playing her heart out.”
Riske, a 29-year-old from Pittsburgh, was appearing in her first major quarterfinal. For Williams, this was No. 51.
“I definitely thought maybe I had a peek here and there at a couple openings, but Serena really upped her level, as only a champion would,” Riske said.
Next for the 37-year-old Williams will be 54thranked Barbora Strycova, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at age 33 with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory over No. 19 Johanna Konta. The other semifinal Thursday will be No. 7 Simona Halep against No. 8 Elina Svitolina.
After edging Riske in singles, Williams cooled down by riding a stationary bike while holding her nearly 2-year-old daughter, Olympia, in one arm. Then Williams joined Andy Murray to win their secondround match in mixed doubles 7-5, 6-3 against Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo.
Halep, a former No. 1 who won the 2018 French Open, followed up her elimination of 15-year-old Delray Beach sensation Coco Gauff by defeating Zhang Shuai 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 to get to her second semifinal at Wimbledon. Svitolina will make her debut in that round at any major tournament thanks to beating Karolina Muchova 7-5, 6-4.
Williams rolled her right ankle and her movement was hardly ideal. Late in the second set, she was visited by a trainer, who applied extra tape to the ankle. That was during a stretch when Riske, talking to herself between points, claimed four games in a row to take the second set and lead the third by a break at 1-0.
“I thought I was very close,” Riske said.
Williams held at love to lead 4-3 in the third set, and then came the key game.