USA TODAY International Edition
Halep cruises in Serena’s bid for 24th Grand Slam
Serena Williams’ bid for a 24th Grand Slam tennis tournament title was spoiled Saturday by No. 7 seed Simona Halep, who dominated Williams 6-2, 6-2 at Wimbledon.
This is Halep’s first Wimbledon championship, with her only other major title coming in the 2018 French Open.
Although Williams has won seven times at the All England Club, this is the second consecutive year she has fallen short in the final.
“When someone plays lights-out, there’s really not much you can do,” Williams said. “I think my opponent just played unbelievable.”
Williams had previously beaten Halep all three times the two met in Grand Slam matches, but Saturday was a different story. The match was never particularly close, with Halep winning the first four games en route to a surprisingly easy victory in straight sets, holding Williams without a single break point.
“I think I played my best tennis ever,” Halep said. “I just didn’t think about what is happening and where I am, I just wanted to be aggressive, to play my plan.”
Halep said she tried not to think about facing one of the greatest players in the sport during the match.
“I don’t put pressure on myself,” Halep said. “Everything I focused on, it was myself and the fact that I played great in the semifinals and I have the game to play on grass.”
The loss is Williams’ worst in her Wimbledon finals career; she had never finished with fewer than five games won. At the 2011 U.S. Open, Williams fell to Samantha Stosure 6-2, 6-3, and at Wimbledon in 2004, she fell to Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-4.
Williams has also never been defeated in such dominant fashion at any Grand Slam final. Two other statistics showed Halep’s dominance Saturday:
❚ Williams had 26 unforced errors while Halep had just three. Williams gave up the same number of errors in her second-round Wimbledon victory, but Halep had the skills to take advantage of them on the big stage.
❚ Williams averaged a first-serve speed of 104 mph Saturday. While that appears high, it’s on the lower end for her. She averaged a serve of nearly 108 mph in her other Wimbledon matches this year.
Williams, who was seeded 11th in the tournament, hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since the Australian Open in 2017. Her next chance to tie Margaret Court for the Grand Slam record will come in the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 26.
On Sunday, No. 2 seed Roger Federer was set to play No. 1 Novak Djokovic for the men’s singles title. Federer holds the men’s Grand Slam title record with 20 and Djokovic third at 15.