By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, January 26, 2017
"Everyone has their moment in the sun. Maybe mine has gone on for a while. I’d like to keep that going," said Venus Williams after advancing to her first AO final since 2003.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Flinging her racquet aside, Venus Williams raised her arms and twirled in ecstatic triumph like a woman dancing with her shadow.
Even when she was disarmed, Williams was invigorated.
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In an all-American semifinal clash between the upstart and the icon, Williams rode fierce intensity and a fiery serve to fight past CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-3, into her first Australian Open final since 2003.
Continuing her career renaissance, the 36-year-old Venus advanced to her first Grand Slam final since the 2009 Wimbledon.
“Oh my gosh it means so much—mostly because she played so well,” Venus told Rennae Stubbs afterward. “I mean, she played so unbelievable and I had to play defense the whole time it felt like. She played so well.
"There was never a moment of relaxation, ever. So to be able to get to the final through a match like this I’m excited about American tennis as well.”
The oldest Australian Open finalist in the Open Era set the stage for the ninth Williams sisters Grand Slam final. Younger sister Serena Williams defeated 79th-ranked Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-2, 6-1, in the second semifinal to put her one win from an Open Era-record 23rd Grand Slam title.
"To see her in the final is the biggest dream come true for us," said Serena, who holds a 16-11 career edge over Venus. "She's my toughest opponent. No one has beaten me as much as Venus has. No matter what happens, I feel we've won... A Williams is going to win this tournament."
Serena has won six of the eight major finals between the two sisters, including completing her first Serena Slam by winning the 2003 Melbourne final.
Straddling the baseline to confront the 25-year-old Vandeweghe’s massive power on the rise, Venus Williams played with courage and conviction on pivotal points.
The 13th-seeded Venus rapped 11 aces, denied 12 of 13 break points and won 11 of 15 trips to net.
“Strategically, I figured I had to try to play more offense, which is impossible (against her),” Williams said. “It doesn’t matter what shot she hits, she hits it as hard as she can. At the end of the day my defense was a key to the match, serving aggressively and just going for it.”
Making her Grand Slam semifinal debut, Vandeweghe fought hard and struck harder winning six of the last seven points to take the tie break, but could not crack Williams when it mattered most.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion saved all nine break points she faced during the final two sets and punished Vandeweghe’s two-handed backhand until it broke—31 of Vandeweghe’s 51 errors came from that wing.
The all-American semifinal pitted the oldest semifinalist against the youngest.
Jitters were evident early. Vandeweghe converted her fourth break point on a netted forehand to open with a service break only to double fault the break back in the second game.
Williams whipped a serve with such sting, Vandeweghe whiffed on the return as the veteran held at 30 for 6-5.
The tie break began with five consecutive mini-breaks. Then Vandeweghe began turning her hips and shoulders into her shots knocking Williams back off the baseline. Vandeweghe hammered successive returns right back at Williams feet then backed up the blasts with touch carving out a fine forehand drop volley for 4-2.
Two points later, Vandeweghe belted a backhand winner down the line for four set points.
A kick serve out wide elicited an errant backhand return as Vandeweghe snatched a one-set lead after an hour of heavy hitting from both women.
It was the first set Williams had dropped the entire tournament and it spurred her into immediate response.
Pouncing from a low crouch, Williams crunched a crosscourt backhand return breaking at love for a 2-1 second set lead.
An annoyed Vandeweghe bounced her Yonex racquet off the court in frustration. Williams saved a break point with a sweeping forehand only to put a backhand into net for a second break point. Sliding her third ace down the middle, Williams erased it eventually confirming the break for 3-1.
The intensity from the seven-time Grand Slam champion combined with her own increasingly erratic play conspired against Vandeweghe who spit up successive double faults donating the second straight break and a 4-1 lead to Williams. Vandeweghe vented her frustration launching a ball into the crowd.
Staring down love-40 in the following game, Williams dug in, fended off four break points in all, firing two aces to navigate a seven-minute hold.
Thumping her serve with more menace, the 2003 finalist threw down four aces serving out the set to level after 98 minutes.
Broken three times to that point, Vandeweghe clipped the center stripe with an ace to save a break point only to scatter a sixth double fault. Commanding the center of the court, Williams punished the Vandeweghe backhand coaxing the error to draw first blood in the final set.
Staring into the sun, the left side of Williams’ body collapsed on serve as she dumped a double fault to face double break point.
The woman in the water color visor unloaded some of her heaviest serves of the match. Bleeding a 24th error from the Vandeweghe backhand, Williams backed up the break for 2-0.
Growing in confidence, Williams stared down her final obstacle in the eighth game. Deadlocked at 30-all, she slid her 11th ace down the middle then slashed another body serving holding for 5-3.
Credit Vandeweghe for fighting off three match points against her childhood hero. On the fourth match point, Vandeweghe sent a forehand long ending a physical two hour, 25-minute encounter and launching a Williams eruption of pure joy.
“It means so much,” Williams said. “Because growing up all I wanted was to have the opportunity to play these tournaments. But then you get here and have the opportunity to inspire other people. It’s more than the cherry on top. It’s more than I dreamed of."
The Williams sisters reunite in the Saturday night final as Venus sustains her shine.
“Everyone on this tour works hard," Venus said. "Everyone has their moment in the sun. Maybe mine has gone on for a while. I’d like to keep that going. I’ve got nothing else to do, so let’s keep it going.”