For the past seven months, Serena Williams has been tasked not just with playing tennis.
She carries on her back a lonely and grim sports endeavour — “making history.” Such an endeavour comes with its own baggage: a final loss at Wimbledon. Semifinal losses in 2015 and 2016 here. But more importantly, four life-saving surgeries same time last year.
But on Thursday night, dressed in a periwinkle tutu that almost matched the hard court she traipsed on, Serena inched one step closer. In routing Latvia’s Anastasia Sevastova 6-3, 6-0 in the U.S Open semifinal, the six-time U.S Open champion — overwhelmed by emotions at the end of it — showed that she is still finding new ways to win.
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Serena will next play in her 31st Grand Slam, bidding to win her first Major title after giving birth to her daughter last year. Should she win, she will equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Majors.
New strategy
Sevastova is the kind of player Serena has never met so far in the tournament here. She was used to players who blindly hit back hard. Sevastova, however, mixes up her groundstrokes and her pace and keeps herself in rallies with a surprising number of sliced backhands.
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This gameplay seemed to work: she looked threatening and broke Serena’ serve in the first game of the match.
But Serena suddenly morphed into a serve-and-volley player. She rushed to the net more often — 28 times — and caught Sevastova by surprise, even as she changed direction.
The strategy seemed to work: Serena won 12 of the next 13 games. Sevastova was left clueless.
That Serena managed to crack the nuances in her attack seemed to annoy the Latvian, as she muttered angrily to herself and in the general direction of her box.
She came completely undone in the second set, when her entire platter of tactics — deep and high groundstrokes, soft balls, backhand down-the-line drop shots — failed her. The ‘bagel’ she got served by Serena was a true masterclass and would take some time digesting.
Maiden final
In the final on Saturday, Serena will play Naomi Osaka, Japan’s first women’s Grand Slam finalist, who defeated Madison Keys 6-2, 6-4.
Two years ago, Keys beat Osaka from a 5-1 deficit in the third set.
This year, Osaka was having none of it.
When asked what kept her going when she faced and saved 13 break points, Osaka said the only thing running in her mind was “I really want to just play Serena.”
Osaka’s game, like Serena, is so big that it often leaves the opponents scrambling for breath.
She defeated Serena in the first round of the Miami Open earlier this season, on the heels of her first career title at Indian Wells.
“It was good that I played her because I kind of know how she plays now,’’ Serena said of Osaka.
“I mean, I was breast-feeding at the time, so it was a totally different situation. Hopefully I won’t play like that again. I can only go up from that match.”