Venus Williams and Petra Kvitova are similar to each other in more ways than one. Two stupendous athletes. Both strong, tall and long-limbed. Owners of an aggressive forehand. But more importantly, each coming through life-altering misfortunes.
For Venus, it was the autoimmune disease causing extreme fatigue and lethargy, diagnosed in 2011. A half-sister murdered. For Kvitova, a serious wound to her playing left hand when she was stabbed by an intruder at her apartment last December. She needed surgery and doctors weren’t sure whether she would be able to play tennis again.
Resurgence
Both have found a safe sanctuary on the tennis court this year, each on her own remarkable comeback run. But on Tuesday night, one had to end and it was Venus who pirouetted and twirled under the night lights of Arthur Ashe, winning the quarterfinals 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2).
The crowd was treated to another great rivalry — all six of their previous meetings had gone three sets. How do you choose between the obvious favourite and the sentimental favourite? You don’t. You simply enjoy the tennis — hold your breath during rallies, gasp at close points and moan at the spray of inopportune double faults.
And double faults there were aplenty. In the opening set, Venus dropped her serve at 1-1, gifting Kvitova an early break by double faulting three times. She would go on to double fault four times more throughout the game, one right after someone in the stand yelled seemingly to encourage “Do it for Serena’s baby!”
Reeling in five-in-a-row
Venus roared back into the set however, winning five straight games and breaking back. Kvitova’s body slumped in resignation as she shanked a forehand wide and Venus served it out 6-3.
But Kvitova quickly regrouped to win the second set. With every roar of “ Pojd !”, it was not just the decibel levels that were increasing, it was the intensity of her game too. She unleashed the combination of her big serve and a mighty forehand to take a crucial 3-0 lead in the second set. She won 85% of her first-serve points, clawing back from five break-point situations. Venus was suddenly looking her age, made to run from corner to corner.
Kvitova’s backhand — a mix of velvet touch and mighty power — helped her secure an early break in the third but Williams recovered from 3-1 down, levelling when the Czech double-faulted. Kvitova’s double fault tally was up to 9.
Of course, the match would go to a tie-break decider. Williams won five straight points to take a commanding 6-1 lead before winning, Kvitova losing on three of her four serves.
At 37 years old, Williams is enjoying a second spring in her career. With this win, she advances to her 23rd Major semifinal of her career, and fourth semifinal in the last six Slams played. She will return to the top five in the WTA rankings next Monday for the first time since January 2011.
She will next meet fellow American Sloane Stephens who, in only her fifth tournament since returning from a lengthy injury lay-off, reached her first US Open semifinal following yet another thrilling 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) win over Anastasija Sevastova earlier in the day.
Querrey’s run ends
In the men’s section, Sam Querrey could not cap what was a great day for the Americans as he went down fighting 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-6(7) against Kevin Anderson in a late night three-and-a-half-hour match on centre court.
Anderson, who has been having an impressive tournament under the radar, is the US Open’s first South African semifinalist since Cliff Drysdale in 1965. The 28th seed will look to book his place in the finals, but standing in his way will be World No.19 Pablo Carreno Busta, who defeated Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. in the first quarterfinal match of the day.
The results:
Men: Quarterfinals: 28-Kevin Anderson (RSA) bt 17-Sam Querrey (USA) 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-6(7); 12-Pablo Carreno-Busta (Esp) bt 29-Diego Schwartzman (Arg) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Women: Quarterfinals: 9-Venus Williams (USA) bt 13-Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2); Sloane Stephens (USA) bt 16-Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4).
Boys’ doubles: Second round: Jesper De Jong (Ned) & Ryan Nijboer (Ned) bt Siddhant Banthia (Ind) & Shinji Hazawa (Jpn) 7-6(2), 2-6, [12-10].
Girls’ doubles: First round: Sofia Munera Sanchez (Col) & Sada Nahimana (Bdi) bt Mahak Jain (Ind) & Mihika Yadav (Ind) 6-3, 6-2.
