Serena’s challenge
Top-seeded Williams faces tough slate of potential foes at Wimbledon,
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND Before she faced older sister Venus in the fourth round Monday, Serena Williams already had come back from being two points from defeat against British No. 1 Heather Watson in a dramatic encounter on Centre Court.
The world No. 1 has this ahead over the next five days: three matches to win the Wimbledon crown, looming opponents in Victoria Azarenka and possibly Maria Sharapova and a historic feat she is no longer discussing, the calendar Grand Slam.
It has been said before: Being Serena is not easy.
“I look forward to tomorrow,” upbeat Williams said of facing Azarenka on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. “I feel like my tournament has finally begun. This is where I feel really comfortable in a Grand Slam.”
No one has been as lethal in the latter stages of majors in the history of women’s tennis. The last eight times she has reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam draw, Williams has won the tournament outright seven times.
She’s 26-12 in Grand Slam quarterfinals.
“I always seem to be on the side of the draw that’s more lopsided,” said Williams, 33. “I’m on the heavier side, it seems. Maybe because I’m one of the heavy hitters and it makes it heavier. But also with Victoria, Maria ... it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day you need to get through these matches now, sooner or later.”
It’s the first time in 11 years that three American women are in the quarterfinals here, with CoCo Vandeweghe, 23, and Madison Keys, 20, also advancing.
Vandeweghe takes on Sharapova for the right to meet the Williams-Azarenka winner. Meanwhile, Keys faces 2012 Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska on the bottom half of the draw for the right to face Timea Bacsinszky or Garbine Muguruza, two rising stars.
It is fair to say Williams cannot afford a letdown after two emotional wins. She needed a meteoric turnaround in the French Open to beat Azarenka, the former world No. 1. Couple that with the chase of her first calendar Grand Slam, and the pressure rises.
“I’m no longer answering questions about (the calendar) Grand Slam,” Williams said at one point during her news conference, done in by question after question about her quest to become the first player to win all four majors in one year since Steffi Graf in 1988.
“Azarenka has been looking a little better. She’s a sleeper,” said Jill Craybas, a former player and a Wimbledon radio commenta- tor. “To me, she is looking very confident.”
The pressure and the hard road create a steep hill to climb — even on the grass.
“You always have to make small adjustments based on how you feel, who you play or who your next opponent is,” Sharapova said.
The Russian hasn’t beaten Williams since 2004, a stretch of 16 consecutive losses. But first she has her first meeting with Vandeweghe.
It’s a breakthrough Slam for Vandeweghe, niece of former NBA basketball player Kiki Vandeweghe and granddaughter of Miss America 1952, the late Colleen Kay Hutchins, for whom CoCo is named.
“This is the farthest I have ever gone in a Grand Slam, and I’m playing really well at this time, but I’m not really considering it like, ‘Wow, a breakthrough,’ ” Vandeweghe said.
Sharapova is in the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time since 2011, when she finished runner-up to Petra Kvitova.
Keys, who is coached by former world No. 1 and 1999 Wimbledon winner Lindsay Davenport, has backed up her semifinal burst in the Australian Open after struggling during the clay season.
“I feel like when I’m walking out onto the courts, not only do I feel people are expecting me to win but I am expecting me to win,” said Keys, an Illinois native. “That’s a different pressure than I’m putting on myself. I think I have handled it pretty well so far.”
But first, Williams is focused on Azarenka, against whom she has a 16-3 head-to-head record.
“I’ve had a couple of tough matches with Victoria,” Williams said.
“I’m going to have to be ready. She’s due to win big and to do really well.”
Then, she added, “Incidentally, so am I.”