By the end of Serena Williams’ 44-minute 6-1, 6-0 obliteration of China’s Wang Qiang on Tuesday night she seemed unplayable. Wang was competing in her first career grand slam quarter-final but the truth is she was merely a spectator. She hit zero winners and won only four points in the second set. “After playing her, now I can see why she deserves everything she’s achieved,” she said in Chinese afterwards. However, Williams is focused only on achieving more. As she waved to the crowd in celebration, the camera just caught her face as she whispered four ominous words under her breath: “I’m coming for it.”
The situation is not new. Since returning from pregnancy 16 months ago Williams has reached three grand slam finals. For anyone else this would be a terrific achievement but in each of her straight-sets defeats – by Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka and Simona Halep – she has been unable to find her form under pressure and her performances have been deemed a disaster. “Everyone, even when I’m three months out of pregnancy, they still expect me to win,” she said this week.
Written by Tumaini Carayol at Flushing Meadows
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/sep/04/serena-williams-elina-svitolina-us-open under the title “Serena Williams has title in reach but Elina Svitolina will apply pressure test”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
