Serena Williams turns it up a notch, gets Venus in quarterfinals
NEW YORK — Standing on court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium after her win over up-and-coming American Madison Keys on Sunday, Serena Williams broke into a smile.
“I’m going to take the rest of the day off,” the world No. 1 told ESPN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez.
It has become rare for Williams, who is an otherworldly 52-2 this season, to be completely satisfied after a win these days. Following victories in the first two rounds at the U.S. Open, she marched to the practice courts each time to work more on her game. And the day after her third-round win she got so frustrated with herself on the practice court that she broke a racket, drawing a startled glance from a nearby Roger Federer.
But Sunday was different. Williams was back into the kind of form that has helped her win 25 of 25 Grand Slam matches so far this year. Three more and she completes history: the calendar Grand Slam, not done in tennis since 1988.
“That was the best she’s played — by far,” ESPN contributor Rennae Stubbs told Paste BN Sports. “Her focus from the first point was evident. And the stats on first serve were outrageously good.”
Williams, who is now into the quarterfinals, will have to continue to be outrageously good in all aspects of her game: Tuesday she’ll face big sister Venus, who herself looked in more-than-fine form in a win Sunday against Anett Kontaveit.
“I want her to be very aggressive. ... I think she’s completely switched that” on since the start of the tournament, Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, told reporters Sunday. “She has to control the match; it has to be up to her. She has to do the mistakes and the winners.”
That’s what has made Williams so great: Going for her shots, being the aggressor. Early in the tournament it was her serve that was letting her down, serving 10 double faults in the second round, then six in the third. The stroke that many argue to be the best shot in the history of women’s tennis was suddenly an Achilles’ heel.
“(The serving troubles) were frustrating for her,” said Williams’ sister, Isha Price. “For her to get it right and for her to have it start to click in ... especially today she was serving pretty well.”
Williams had to come back from the brink Friday night to beat another American, 30-year-old Bethanie Mattek-Sands, before things began to click. Sunday she appeared to be in full flight, her bright pink dress billowing behind her as she clocked a total of 18 winners against Keys, who can match her stroke for stroke. She never faced a break point.
“I think I played really well,” Williams, 33, said. “I had to play well.”
But that assuredness has not been present for the entire event. For a player who has lost just twice this year, she had a hard time naming a match she felt happy with in 2015. Any match.
“I’ve played so many matches this year. ... I’m sure there’s a couple,” she said with a smile after her second-round win.
In a way, however, Williams is a lifetime removed from that second round uncertainty. The version that tennis fans see of Williams in week two of a major is much different to the one who plays in the first week. Her 21 Grand Slams are a testament to that.
With the Williams sisters moving on, Sunday saw the exit of another big star, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, who slipped and fell in the tournament’s locker room Friday. She officially withdrew before her fourth-round match against Roberta Vinci, citing a concussion.
Vinci, a 32-year-old Italian, makes her first major quarterfinal since advancing that far at the 2013 U.S. Open. She’ll face the winner of Sunday’s late match between No. 13 seed Ekaterina Makarova and Kristina Mladenovic.
Regardless of who wins, that means whichever Williams sister does come through Tuesday will be heavily favored to make the final. That said, and with the shot at the Grand Slam looming, Serena knows she can only focus on what’s next — what’s in front of her.
“I have to play Venus Williams next,” she said. “I have to deal with that pressure first.”
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