For the first time since 2002 Serena Williams has claimed the US Open singles title, but it wasn't easy.To earn her third US Open singles title she had to go through her Big Sis in the quarterfinals, beating her 7-6, 7-6 and Russian Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2.
Jelena Jankovic of Serbia awaited her at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She was playing in her first Grand Slam final and served notice early on that she wanted it just as badly. Williams won her first game but after Jankovic held serve she broke Serena to lead 2-1. Little Sis then stepped up her tennis to another level and won four straight games to lead 5-2. After Jankovic held serve and then broke Serena's to close within 5-4, Little Sis returned the favor to win the set 6-4.
The second set was just as hard fought. Serena held serve and had two break points in the second game, but Jankovic saved both points to stay even at 1-1. They stayed on serve with Jankovic once again having to stave off multiple break points to stay even at 3-3.
In the seventh game with Little Sis up 40-30 she was rattled by a late non-call on a ball that barely kissed the edge of the line and stayed in. Jankovic took advantage and broke Williams' serve for a 4-3 lead. She held serve and had three set points on Little Sis, but Serena saved them all to win the game and narrow the gap to 5-4.
In the tenth game Serena forced five break points, but Jankovic battled back to save them all before double faulting to tie the set and give Little Sis an opportunity to take the lead at 6-5. After holding serve, she kept the pressure on Jankovic and force championship point. Jankovic saved the first one but Little Sis forced another one and won her title on a blistering backhand winner.In addition to getting paid for the win, she also regained the international Number One ranking in women's tennis for the first time since August 2003.
I was wrong in my comment back during Wimbledon that the Williamses always play poorly against each other. They've finally learned how to put aside their sisterly love and compete at their best against each other. Actually, they probably figured this out at a small tournament in India last spring, which I didn't know about. Maybe the lack of importance of that match enabled them to overcome their feelings, which they couldn't do previously, in grand slam events.
ReplyDeleteCaprice,
ReplyDeleteWhatever triggered it, as a tennis fanatic I'm happy because its elevated the level of their play..
They have played some monster matches against each other in the last two Grand Slam tournaments.
But you weren't the only person admitting they were wrong about the Williams sisters.
Chris Evert-Lloyd did as well.
n 1999, Serena won the Open for the first of 16 Williams family Grand Slam singles titles. From the beginning of 2002 through the end of 2003, Williams won five of the six majors she entered.
ReplyDeleteThen she went from nearly invincible to almost invisible. Between January 2005 and December 2006, she played 44 matches, 5 fewer than she has in 2008.
Williams’s world ranking was inching toward 140 when Chris Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, gently took Williams to task in an open letter in Tennis magazine for tarnishing her legacy by not maximizing her extraordinary tennis abilities.
“In the short term you may be happy with the various things going on in your life,” Evert wrote, “but I wonder whether 20 years from now you might reflect on your career and regret not putting 100 percent of yourself into tennis.”
Evert, whose singular devotion to tennis stoked her success, added, “I don’t see how acting and designing clothes can compare with the pride of being the best tennis player in the world.”
Evert watched the final Sunday in the suite of Arlen Kantarian, the United States Tennis Association’s chief executive officer for professional tennis. Before the match, Evert conceded that in the long term the Williamses had proved her wrong.
Noting that former Nos. 1 Justine Henin, Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters bowed out of tennis because of burnout while the Williamses have been playing as well as ever, Evert said: “Let’s put it this way. It’s opened my eyes not to be judgmental and to each his own. Whatever makes you happy. By having other interests, maybe you won’t get burned out as quickly.”