Saturday, 3 July 2010
"At the rate she’s going, she certainly may catch me and Chris and Helen Wills Moody and who knows, maybe even Steffi (in reference to total Grand Slam titles),” Navratilova said. “She’s just head and shoulders above everybody else, and those are pretty broad shoulders she’s got.”Navratilova called Serena's serve the best she has ever seen, which is saying something. U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez concurred.
"Impeccable, just impressive, once again, the way she's able to dominate with the best [serve] we've ever seen in tennis," Fernandez said. "It's very hard for someone to compete [against her], time in, time out. "Not so much that it's the biggest. It's the best, it's got the speed when she needs it, and the spin when she needs it. She can slice it, kick it and hit into the body.
Serena, who has won five of the last eight Grand Slams, moved ahead of Billie Jean King into sole possession of sixth place on the all-time list of women’s Grand Slam champions with 13, the most of any active woman player. Williams also has five Australian Opens, three U.S. Opens and one French Open.
Serena Williams has won her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam championship by sweeping Vera Zvonareva in straight sets in a one-sided final that lasted just 67 minutes and showed why Williams is considered one of the greatest players of all time. The top-ranked and defending champion American beat the 12th-seeded Russian 6-3, 6-2 to extend the Williams family dominance at the All England Club.
Williams won 31 of 33 points when her first serve was good. She hit her fastest serve—122 mph—for an ace in the final game. She finished the tournament with a record 89 aces. Williams also won all 14 points when she came to the net, and had 29 winners to only nine for Zvonareva. Williams served nine aces, broke three times and never faced a break point. She finished the tournament without dropping a set.
Williams (who improved her record to 13-3 in Grand Slam finals) added to the Wimbledon titles she won in 2002, 2003 and 2009. This was the first time she defeated someone other than her sister Venus in the final. The Williams sisters have now won nine of the last 11 Wimbledon titles.
This win ensured Williams moved ahead of Billie Jean King, with 13 Grand Slam titles (the most of any active woman player) to go sixth on the all-time list. "This one is very special. Billie Jean, I got you," Williams told her compatriot who was watching on from the Royal Box. Williams graciously congratulated Zvonareva, who played in her first Grand Slam final and was the second-lowest ranked women’s finalist ever at Wimbledon.
“Everyone should give her a big round of applause,” Williams said. "I'd like to congratulate Vera, she has been through so much and she defines what a champion and never giving up means." Williams won what the media termed the "Serena Slam," taking four major titles in a row in a noncalendar year. And she is the only player in this generation to even come close.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Serena possesses the best serve we have ever witnessed in women's tennis - it is as simple as that. She has only dropped three service games in the tournament thus far, so for opponents it is quite an achievement to get into a tie-break let alone win a set. Coming into the final, Serena has served 80 aces (a record for a woman at Wimbledon) - six more than Andy Murray - 50 more than her nearest statistical rival --sister Venus - and 57 more than Zvonareva. Her fastest serve was hit at an astounding 125mph, which is only one mile an hour slower than Rafael Nadal's fastest serve in his quarter-final encounter with Robin Soderling.So far, she has won 87% of the points when her first serve has gone in, a proportion way ahead of any of her rivals, and 10% better than her opponent in the final, Vera Zvonareva. However, the Russian has been returning exceptionally well over the course of the last couple of weeks, having won 98 points in total when having to deal with opponents' first serves compared with Serena's 83.
And she has done even better when she has had the chance to pounce on a second serve, winning 136 points all told, compared to Serena's 127. So that is the challenge that the Russian faces: will she be able to deal with Serena's serve well enough to become competitive? The one thing you simply have to do when up against a big server is take care of business on your own serve and Zvonareva's has been her Achilles heel throughout her career. She still occasionally has trouble controlling her ball toss when she gets really nervous, and that obviously has to be a consideration given the enormity of the occasion.
Serena has so much experience to draw upon at this level whereas it will be Vera's first major final, so nerves are bound to inhibit the Russian to some degree, and the end result will depend on just how well she is able to hold her nerve.There is plenty of history between these two as they have met six times previously, and Serena has won five of those clashes (the exception was in Cincinnati back in 2006), so that will give the American even more confidence.
There is no question that it is a huge ask for anybody to beat Serena on any surface other than clay at the Grand Slams, and for Vera to spring a surprise she has to hope that her opponent gets out of the wrong side of the bed and serves extremely poorly. She also has to then play the match of her life and hold her nerve when it gets really matters, otherwise it is surely Serena who will eventually prevail given her far superior firepower and experience at the highest level.Article from www.wimbledon.org
Thursday, 1 July 2010
WIMBLEDON, England -- Everything about Serena Williams' game is big: her forehand, backhand -- and, especially, the searing serve.
But on the rare occasions when her powerful, slashing strokes are matched, she has a fail-safe device that sustains her through periods of vulnerability. It's something she rarely gets credit for, but is an essential part of what makes her the greatest women's champion of her generation.
With Petra Kvitova, a fearless 20-year-old from the Czech Repubic, crowding the baseline and take some outrageous cuts at the ball, Serena fell back and operated in scrambling mode, chipping off-balance backhands and blooping forehands. She survived and advanced to a first-set tiebreaker, when her serve finally came alive.
In the end, Serena prevailed 7-6 (5), 6-2 to advance to Saturday's final, where she will face Vera Zvonareva. In the first semifinal, Zvonareva dropped the first set but rallied to defeat Tsventana Pionkova 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Serena has beaten Zvonareva five of six times in their head-to-head matches.
"It definitely wasn't easy," Serena said afterward. "I didn't expect to get this far after I played in the beginning of the tournament. I just felt off." However, Serena's serve this fortnight has been historically huge. And though her ace and speed numbers were down on Thursday -- there was talk that her right shoulder (taped in Wednesday's doubles match) was bothering her -- her serve constantly bailed her out. For the record, she had seven aces against Kvitova, and her six-match total (80) has already exceeded the Wimbledon record she set last year.
Ultimately, this match was about experience. Serena has fashioned a grass-court record of 58-7. Kvitova, an unorthodox lefty, is now 5-5. "I will have to stay aggressive no matter what and not to let her dominate," Zvonareva said. "Because when Serena dominates, she's very difficult to play. I will try to fight for every point, and I think try to make it difficult for her on every point."
For Serena, the Wimbledon final is more like an old, favorite sweater. Ten of the past 11 Wimbledon finals have featured at least one Williams sister; four of them have seen Serena and Venus play each other. Serena, seeking her fourth Wimbledon title and 13th Grand Slam singles championship, will be a prohibitive favorite against Zvonareva. She has yet to drop a set here -- and, well, she's Serena Williams.
At the age of 28 -- the same as Roger Federer -- she is still in a major groove; a victory over Zvonareva would give her five Grand Slam singles titles in the past eight, going back to the 2008 U.S. Open. Three other players -- Svetlana Kuznetsova, Kim Clijsters and Francesca Schiavone -- are all next in line, with one.
Article by: Greg Garber (ESPN.com)
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