Bill Simons
New York
Twenty-eight years ago, I watched as a wide-eyed 12-year-old girl first stuck her toe into the turbulent waters of the WTA tour. Silent, deep within the shadows of the Oakland Coliseum, the oh-so-young Serena observed from a distance as her rail-thin older sister pranced in the spotlight. Venus’ debut match was a media frenzy. Patriarch Richard Williams assured us that Venus would reach the very top, but then insisted her baby sister would be even better.
In Oakland Serena just took it all in and learned. She’s always loved to learn. She imitated Pete Sampras’s classic service motion and emerged with the best serve ever. She watched every twist and turn of Venus’s first years on the circuit. Soon she gained a key skill – how to master the moment.
And tonight she astounded all of tennis and much of the world – as once again she roared to victory.
Ranked No. 413, she was seemingly slated to make a gracious exit. At Wimbledon, in Toronto and Cincinnati, she’d seemed flat, slow and vulnerable. Her opening round win against the No. 80 player in the world, Danka Kovinic, was a fabulous, feel-good swan song against a modest foe.
But presumably, the aging icon would now fall to the considerable Anett Kontaviet. The 26-year old Estonian is approaching her prime, is 14 years younger than lady Serena and is 411 ranking slots above her.
But, who’s kidding whom? Never underestimate a Williams. She’s made a career of shocking us – that’s Serena’s brand, her DNA – her essence.
“If anyone can win when being an underdog,” said Caroline Wozniacki, “it’s Serena. Why would we expect a woman who has won majors when she was a teen, in her 20s and her 30s, to not amaze us when she’s almost 41?”
And, oh, how she loves the big stage. The bright lights of New York have ignited to help Serena turn the clock back – in a manner reminiscent of Jimmy Connors 31 years ago. Tonight Serena came out on fire, blasting forehands, attacking Kontaveit’s second serve, using the crowd’s support and applying Serena-esque pressure.
Finally, in the first set, on her sixth break point, Williams broke serve to go up 5-4. But Kontaveit broke right back and soon forced a tiebreak. Serena promptly called on her greatest weapon and hit five straight first serves, including a brilliant 101-mph ace to the corner that secured the tiebreak, 7-4. “I just like hitting an ace when I’m up set point or match point,” she said later.
Oddly, Kontaveit’s first-set loss seemed to energize her, and she morphed into one heck of a rolling Estonian. Swinging free, she hit out. Her flat drives went deep, her forehands punished. She had Serena on her heels and took the second set 6-2. “You can see why she’s No. 2,” Chris Evert commented.
Then, like Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, Serena went off court to try and reset. Later she joked with reporters, “I just got lighter. Use your imagination. But it wasn’t No. 2.”
Now the question was simple. After 1,020 matches and 2,189 sets, would this be Serena’s last act? Serena told herself, “Oh, my goodness, I better give my best effort. This could be it.”
And, one more time, the Compton Comet amazed us. Soon we saw Serena in full flight. As Tiger Woods looked on, Williams became a tiger on the prowl. She showed why she’s 41-0 in the first two rounds at the Open. Attacking Kontaveit’s second serve, going for the lines, ramping up the pressure, shrugging off close calls and unlucky net chords, Serena prevailed in marathon rallies and played clutch points with unblinking confidence.
“Who is this lady out there?” quipped Evert. After Williams scored a dazzling 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 win for the ages that had the massive throng in a dither, she twirled, then told the crowd, “I’m a pretty good player…I love challenges and love rising to the occasion.”
Serena said she’d been practicing hard, but until New York it just wasn’t coming together in matches. Now, she said, she “had nothing to lose” and felt this “weird mix of embracing the moment and staying focused.” She added, “I’ve had a big red X on my back since I won the US Open in ’99. It’s been there my entire career…But here it’s different. I feel like I’ve already won, figuratively, mentally. It’s just pretty awesome the things I’ve done…You know, I’m Serena.”
Yes – I know, tennis knows, we all know. And who among us doesn’t wonder just how far this GOAT, who at times seems so much bigger than sports, can go?
Can Serena get past the world No. 46 Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday and reach the fourth round? How much longer will she keep evolving? Can this 40-year-old mother shock the universe and actually defeat time and win the Open? Or how about this – can Serena not only win the singles, but also the doubles? And would that prompt Venus to join in with Serena in her mission to evolve away from tennis?
