Serena Williams has played the best tennis we have seen her playing in 2016. Maybe those 7 weeks she took away from tennis after losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the 4th round in Miami where just what the World No.1 needed to gather her motivation and come back stronger than we had seen so far in this season.
In her best match played by Serena in 2016, the American literally trashed 2009 French Open champion Kuznetsova in just 51 minutes, winning by 6-2 6-0. Taking her revenge for the disappointing loss faced against the Russian in her home tournament in March – in Miami Serena was on a 20-match winning streak before losing to Kuznetsova – Williams appeared flawless on court on Friday in Rome.
Forget the player who felt the need to close out the points within two shots seen against Victoria Azarenka in the finals at Indian Wells; Forget also the unwilling player who let the third set go against Kuznetsova in Miami. That lazy Serena is gone, replaced by a world class champion building up the points, putting pressure on her opponent to close out the rallies at the first easy, half-paced ball.
The Serena seen in the quarter-finals in Rome is well worth another French Open title, considering the consistency and ability to perform in constant aggression, firing 20 winners and 13 unforced errors, 5 aces and 2 double faults.
The first set was closed with a break by Serena on Kuznetsova’s serve after just 25 minutes. Here the set point:
.@SerenaWilliams cruises through the opening set!
Breaks Kuznetsova 6-2! #ibi16 https://t.co/xzWRgpv0Vl
— wta (@WTA) May 13, 2016
In the second the American took an early break and never looked back, hardly missing a ball, capable of winning almost all prolonged rallies.
With Kuznetsova serving down at 0-5, the Russian hit a double fault handing the match to the World No.1 at her second match point. A brisk hand shake followed as Serena pointed her finger to the Italian sky, embraced by the crowd at the Foro Italico.
Next for Williams will be surprising semi-finalist Irina-Camelia Begu.
