New York, USA– Serena Williams rounded off a crisp performance to repeat in the final of the U.S. Open and give herself a new opportunity to match the record of 24 Grand Slam titles. He quickly took the handle to take a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ukrainian elina Svitolina, fifth seed, in his semi-final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.
This will be Williams’ fourth final in the last six grand. She finished as a Wimbledon runner-up in each of the last two years, losing to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and against Simona Halep in July. It also ranked number two, certainly a year ago at Flushing Meadows, falling in front of Naomi Osaka.That final was, and always will be, overshadowed by Williams’ long-standing discussion with chair judge Carlos Ramos, who discounted him a point and then a game. The U.S. Tennis Association made the decision not to assign to the Portuguese judge any match esthe match of the current tournament involving her or her older sister, Venus.
Much of what Williams achieves today has historical edges, and indeed it did. His 101st victory at Flushing Meadows tied Chris Evert’s record for the tournament.
Simply stunning, I guess,” Williams said. I don’t much on that. I go out to play and try to do my best.”
Upon landing in the final, Williams set a record for the wider gap of his first match for a Grand Slam title and the most recent. It’s been exactly 20 years since she was crowned at the 1999 US Open as a teenager.
Serena Williams during her US Open/AFP semi-final match
Williams holds six US Open titles and a total of 23 grand titles. That accrual is an Open Era record, which began in 1968, when the pros were allowed to play in Grand Slam tournaments.Most importantly, if he manages to defeat Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (13th seed) or Canada’s Bianca Andreescu (15) in the Saturday’s final, Williams will match Margaret Court’s 24 Grand Slam grand slam title, the most in tennis history. Peró Court won more than half of his own against fierce rivals, before professionals were allowed to participate in the big dates from 1968 on.
This was Williams’ 38th semi-final at a Grand Slam; doing for the tenth time at Flushing Meadows. And it was only the second-best time in a grand for Svitolina, the 24-year-old Ukrainian who made her way to the trial at Wimbledon last July. At the outset, however, Svitolina proved more effective. He had three break balls on the first break, but squandered them all. In the second game, Svitolina went up 40-0, and ended up losing the touch. In total, Svitolina had within eight balls to win those first sets, but ended up empty-handed. In the blink of an eye, Williams was the one who got up 3-0.
Serena Williams celebrating her PASS to the final at the US Open/AFP
It was not the uneven demonstration he recorded in the 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maria Sharapova in the first round or the 6-1, 6-0 win over Wang Qiang in the quarter-finals. But the American showed firmness in the execution of her game plan. He dispatched 119 mph to the hesitated and lifted each of the six break balls he faced. He was flashing three returns to score points in a single game. And it was exhibited when shooting punches at various angles, dominating 34-11 on the winners account.
Perhaps Svitolina, whose one win over Williams in five previous matches was at the 2016 Rio Games, was too passive, staying too far in the background. It was not the right tactic, at least against this kind of opponent and in a match of such magnitude.
Williams wasn’t perfect. But he played at a pretty good level and that was more than enough. That’s the way it usually is with her. What happens has not caught up with him in the three most important games since returning after her pregnancy. You’ll get another chance on Saturday. One more for title 24.
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