Serena Williams is into quarterfinals with milestone looming again
WIMBLEDON, England — We’ve seen this script at the last seven Grand Slams, only now the question is: Which plot turn takes course here over the next few days?
From the 2014 U.S. Open to Wimbledon last year, Serena Williams went four-for-four in the majors. In the last three Grand Slams, however, Williams has lost in the semifinals once and the final twice.
So what do the final chapters hold at Wimbledon this year for Serena?
“We’re not looking backwards,” her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, told Paste BN 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 in Melbourne and Paris. “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.”
It’s the first time in six years that both Serena and her older sister Venus, 36, are into the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Serena gets No. 21 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a steady baseliner from Russia who was a junior prodigy.
Venus, meanwhile, takes on a 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 — it should also be mentioned — are just two match wins apiece from a first Grand Slam final against one another since this tournament, in 2009.
“Honestly, I’m just focused on my next match,” replied Serena as a reporter brought up such a 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 that 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. (Which she might have to do, by the way, against her sister.) She’s still after Steffi Graf’s Open era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, 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 at 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 (whose wedding is scheduled for Saturday) 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 before. Can she again?
Recent history has taught us that we’ll have to wait and see. The three hurdles that remain are the highest a Grand Slam can offer.
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