By Chris Oddo | Saturday, August 22, 2015
Serena Williams battled past serving woes and Elina Svitolina to set up a final with Simona Halep on Saturday in Cincinnati.
Photo Source: Maddie Meyer/Getty
The quest for the calendar-year Grand Slam—and the pressure that comes with it—appears to be taking its toll on Serena Williams in Cincinnati, but still the warrior spirit of the world No. 1 and 21-time major champion guided her to another convincing victory in Saturday’s Western and Southern Open semifinals.
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Williams' 6-4, 6-3 victory over Rising Ukrainian Elina Svitolina came with nine double-faults, including three in succession that handed Svitolina a critical break in the second set. Strangely, the double-faults have been a recurring theme for a woman who has built her reputation on lights-out serving.
Asked if she remembered ever having hit three in a row by a reporter in her post-match press conference Williams shrugged and said “Not in professionals.”
In four of her last five matches Williams has tossed in seven or more double-faults, including 12 in her semifinal loss to Belinda Bencic in Toronto and another nine in yesterday’s three-set quarterfinal win over Ana Ivanovic.
To say that Williams’ serving performances of late have been un-Serena like would be a gross understatement. This is a woman reputed to be the best server in women's tennis history. Yet she continues to make her march towards history, and will play for her second consecutive title in Cincinnati on Sunday. Williams addressed the woes directly to reporters after the match.
“I haven't served much since the French Open because I've had an elbow problem,” Williams said. “When you don't serve much—you know, I think people forget that I've been out. Even before French I didn't serve much until like the day before the tournament started. So I've been dealing with that for a long time.”
Many wonder whether or not Williams’ injury is still present, and speculate that the injury may be worse than she lets on. Others believe that Williams is simply easing off on the serve in order to ensure peak health and form at the US Open. In truth, nobody but Williams knows.
Whatever the case, the World No. 1 is dealing with her serving woes adequately enough to keep winning in Cincinnati. She dropped 20 of 33 second-serve points against the feisty Svitolina today but was still able to dominate on first serve, winning 30 of 38. Her first offerings were clocked in the mid-120s so there doesn’t appear to be any appreciable loss in velocity.
Whether or not Williams craves one more stern test before she heads to New York to prepare for the Open, she'll get it on Sunday when she faces the suddenly rejuvanated Simona Halep. The Romanian surged past Jelena Jankovic, 6-1, 6-2 in Saturday’s second semifinal to nudge her post-Wimbledon hard court record to 8-1. Halep has notched seven Top-25 wins in two week’s time and will emerge as the WTA’s No. 2 on Monday (and the No. 2 seed in New York), win or lose in the final.
Halep has had recent success against Williams, though not a lot. Last year at the WTA Finals in Singapore the Romanian ran roughshod over Williams in round-robin play, 6-0, 6-2, handing Williams her first love set in a losing effort in six years.
Since then Williams, known for possessing an elephant's memory when it comes to stinging losses (see: Maria Sharapova), has responded with two victories, one a 6-3, 6-0 drubbing a few days later in Singapore, the other a hotly contested 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory in this year’s Miami semifinals. The Miami semi was a tense, back-and-forth struggle that has proven to be one of the most dramatic matches on the women’s tour all season.
“In Miami I didn’t play my best tennis,” said Halep in an interview with ESPN after her victory over Jankovic. “Now I’m playing better. I will have my chance tomorrow but I expect a tough match. With [Serena] you never know. You can win, maybe, or you can lose fast.”
Williams owns the 5-1 career edge over Halep, and she’ll be bidding for her 69th Tour-level title on Sunday, which would move her past Evonne Goolagong Cawley and into sole possession of fifth on the all-time Open Era title list.
It would be a nice milestone for Williams, but surely not the title she’s focused on winning at the moment. Just after the match during an interview with ESPN’s Brad Gilbert it became clear that while her body is in Cincinnati, Williams’ spirit may be already in New York.
“I wanted to move forward a little more and just not worry about this match, just worry about the next few matches and the next few weeks, and start playing better for that,” she said.