Williams looking to flip major script
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND We’ve seen this script at the last seven Grand Slam tournaments, but now the question becomes: Which plot turn takes hold over the next few days?
From the 2014 U.S. Open to Wimbledon last year, Serena Williams went 4-for-4 in the majors. In the last three, however, Williams has lost in the semifinals once and the final twice.
So what do the final chapters hold for Serena at Wimbledon?
“We’re not looking backwards,” her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s not like something
bad is happening. ... I’ve learned from those matches.”
“We have to understand why that happened,” Mouratoglou added, referring to Williams’ losses this year in the Australian and French opens. “Winning a Slam isn’t just about what kind of tennis you’re playing. You have to find the way to play well at the right moments. I’m happy with Serena’s level right now.”
This is the first time in six years Serena and her older sister, Venus, 36, are both into the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Serena gets No. 21 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a steady baseliner from Russia who was a junior prodigy. Venus takes on streaky and hard-hitting Yaroslava Shvedova, who has been ranked as high as No. 25 but is playing here as the world No. 96.
The Williams sisters are two match wins apiece from a first Grand Slam final against each other since this tournament in 2009.
“Honestly, I’m just focused on my next match,” Serena said when apprised of the possibility.
Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber meets Simona Halep in the other quarterfinal on Venus’ half of the draw, while Dominika Cibulkova and Elena Vesnina play on Serena’s.
Yet all eyes will be fixed on the Williamses, who have turned back the clock again at the All England Club, where they’ve met in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009 and 2015. Is 2016 the next chapter? “If Serena has to play Venus in the final, it’s good news for both of them,” Mouratoglou said. “It means a Williams is going to win.”
The challenge remains for Serena to block out what she’s trying to achieve on top of winning the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament. She’s trying to match Steffi Graf ’s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, being stuck at 21 since winning here last year.
“I’m not talking about that anymore,” Serena said earlier in the tournament, batting away a question about her chase for No. 22.
What appeared to be paralyzing pressure in the U.S. Open last year, Williams says, is no longer a burden. “I look at it almost like something that’s really awesome to be in that position,” she said of going after Graf ’s record.
While Kerber, Halep and Cibulkova are regular faces in the latter stages of women’s events, Vesnina, Shvedova and Pavlyuchenkova are not. After beating Serena in Australia, Kerber crashed out of the French Open in the first round. Wimbledon has been a redemption of sorts.
“I think right now I’m feeling really good, like in Australia,” Kerber said. “I know how to win a tournament like this.”
As does Serena, who has done so 21 times. Can she do it again?
Recent history says we’ll have to wait and see. The three hurdles that remain are the highest a Grand Slam event can offer.