Serena Williams reaches Wimbledon quarterfinals
WIMBLEDON, England — Down 5-4 in the first set and with her opponent stepping to the line to serve, Serena Williams was on the brink of going a set down at Wimbledon in the fourth round.
Then she won nine games in a row.
The world No. 1 and defending champion breezed through the latter half of her match against 31-year-old Svetlana Kuznetsova, besting the Russian who had beaten her earlier this year in Miami with a 7-5, 6-0 effort.
What’s next for Serena? Another Russian: No. 21 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat American CoCo Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-3 earlier in the day.
There was no such Serena luck for another American in Madison Keys, who led No. 5 seed Simona Halep by a set only to fall in three, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3. Halep will meet Australian Open Angelique Kerber in the last eight. All four women’s quarterfinals will take place on Tuesday.
2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova scored the upset of the day over No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in what was no doubt the match of the day. The hard-hitting Slovakian won 6-3, 5-7, 9-7 in an extended third set.
Yaroslava Shvedova beat Lucie Safarova in straight sets, as well.
Shvedova will face Serena's older sister Venus, the 36-year-old five-time champion here who won a tough battle over Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(3), 6-4, having trailed 3-5 in the first set. Venus won three out of four points after a brief rain delay during the first-set tiebreak, then closed the match with a service hold at love, playing an impressive point on match point.
"The first set was exciting, but it was emotional when the rain came," Venus told the BBC after. "I was dismayed. I just tried to stay focused and that helped me get through. It's an honor to do this job. Am I surprising myself? I've been in this position before... you always have to believe in yourself."
Serena had lost three times to Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam winner, but had bested her nine times, including in their most recent meeting on clay this spring.
Jumping to a 3-1 lead, Williams looked comfortable on Centre Court before Kuznetsova broke back, leveled for 3-all, then served for the set at 5-4. But Serena wouldn’t lose a game thereafter, winning the 56-minute first set after the players left the court as the roof was put over it.
Serena is into her 12th career Wimbledon quarterfinal, but will play for a third straight day on Tuesday, having won her third round match on Middle Sunday.
“In order to win a tournament you have to win the quarterfinals, semifinals and final back to back to back,” Williams said, noting the regular schedule for a WTA event. “So for me it’s an easy transition. I thought to myself, ‘Serena, you’ve done this 70 times, you can do this.’”
Cibulkova awaits Elena Vesnina on the top half of the draw with Serena, while Halep-Kerber, Venus and Shvedova on are on the bottom half.
Serena found support from big-time tennis fan Anna Wintour in her player box, the Vogue editor a familiar face at Wimbledon, particularly for Roger Federer and Serena matches. She and Venus played simultaneously for part of Monday, the two having met in this very round here a year ago, with Serena winning.
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