TENNIS US OPEN – Williams came into the US Open having had a dismal year at the majors losing inexplicably to players she has either dominated in the past or ranked outside top 20. However, in New York City, everything came together nicely for the American. From New York, Cordell Hackshaw
In one of her press conferences at this year’s US Open, Serena Williams (1) was asked what does the number 18 means to her. Her response was an instant classic retort, “Legal and Legendary.” Back in 1999, just shy of the legal age of 18 years old, Williams won her 1st major at the US Open. Now, 15 years later, she has won her 18th at the Open, finally making her legendary. Now in the elite company of Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, they and Williams are tied for 2nd on the All-Time major winners in the open era. Williams is 4 titles away from Steffi Graff who has 22 major titles. Margaret Court has 24 singles titles but 13 of those titles were won before the Open era in 1968. “I have been trying to reach it for so long … I didn’t really think would I get there. I just felt so good,” Williams said.
Williams came into the US Open having had a dismal year at the majors losing inexplicably to players she has either dominated in the past or ranked outside top 20. However, in New York City, everything came together nicely for the American. In sheer dominant fashion, Williams did not lose or even came close to dropping a set in her run to the final where she faced friend, Caroline Wozniacki (10). They have met 9 times prior to this match with Williams winning on eight of those occasions most recently in Canada and Cincinnati where Wozniacki pushed Williams to 3 sets. However, this time around Williams showed no mercy as she took the match for her 6th overall and 3rd straight US Open title 6-3 6-3 in 75 minutes.
After holding serve to open the match, Williams broke Wozniacki for 2-0. However, this break of serve would be the start of four successive breaks of serve. It was near calamity as both players struggled to get a 1st serve in and win points on their 2nd serves. Fans expected Wozniacki to have serving troubles but few figured Williams would be struggling so mightily. Williams only made 12/29 1st serves in the opening set. However, she was able to hold serve quite comfortably for the first time in the 7th game for a 5-2 lead. Wozniacki was also able to hold serve for the first time in the match but again had to fight off another break point. Williams confidently closed out the set 6-3 in 40 minutes.
Wozniacki’s serving woes continued as she was broken to start the 2nd set and this time around, she was not getting a look on the Williams’ serve. Williams would only drop 4 points on serve in the 2nd set as she finally settled down and looked very much like the tennis legend that she is. Wozniacki had no answer for Williams’ game as every tactic she tried, she was outmaneuvered. “I went out there and I was a little nervous. I had a game plan in mind, but it was kind of difficult at the start. I tried to push her back, but that really didn’t work for me,” Wozniacki said after the match. Williams raced ahead to 5-3 and forced Wozniacki to serve to stay in the match.
Tennis is a sport built largely on pressure and this was a very pressurized situation for the Dane. Of her 8 service games thus far in the match, only two games had Wozniacki not face a break point and she had already been broken 4 times. It was too much for Wozniacki as she tried to hold in her 9th service game. She saw match point against her when Williams hit her 29th winner, a forehand crosscourt. On match point, Wozniacki’s backhand sailed long giving Williams the title, 6-3 6-3.
When asked whether she played her best in the match, Williams responded by saying, “I think I played well. I really do. I feel like to get through that with all the nerves and all the expectations and things that could have happened, I think considering the situation, yes, I think I played pretty good.” This is noteworthy because in her last two US Open finals, Williams had the early advantage against Victoria Azarenka and each time let it slipped particularly in 2012 when Azarenka served for the match in the 3rd set. However, Williams did well to close out this match in straight sets rounding off a great summer, winning three titles and near $4 million in prize money at the US Open alone having won the US Open series.
After the match, Wozniacki stated, “She really just stepped in and she was playing aggressive. She was playing better than me today.” Williams had 29 winners compared to 4 from Wozniacki. The American came to net 15 times and won the point on 13 of those occasions. The main issue for Wozniacki is that her serve is a serious liability. Despite getting in more 1st serves than Williams, the Wozniacki serve is very problematic. Williams was able to win over 50% of the points off Wozniacki’s serve, which is hardly surprising when looking at the serving statistic. Wozniacki won only 56% of the points off her 1st serve and 38% off her 2nd serve, which is only 9/24 points. Williams on the other hand, won 77% of the points on her 1st serve and 53% on her 2nd serve. Wozniacki cannot continue with this service game if she hopes to win majors in the future.
With Roger Federer’s spectacular exit on Saturday from the tournament, ending his bid for 18th major singles title, Williams admitted that she was nervous about her own quest, “Thought it wasn’t meant to be for us. At least one of us made it.” Williams’ 18th major singles title including 5 Australian Open titles (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009-10), 2 French Open (2002, 2013), 5 Wimbledon (2002-03, 2009-10, 2012) and now 6 US Open (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012-14). Williams has stated that she is already thinking about number “19” but not “22” which would equal Graff’s major haul. However, she reiterated what underlines her dominance in the sport. “I always say it’s difficult to beat me because I serve pretty good, I have a pretty good return, I’m pretty fast. If I’m doing all those things combined, you know, it’s definitely difficult to win.”