BY JOE APU
The US Open serves off in a matter of days and world number one women’s player, Serena Williams can’t put try hard to wish away the ghost of the 2015 edition where she proved near invinsibility until Roberta Vinci stopped her in the final.
No doubt, the pressure will again be on her as she tried to make up for last year’s failure.
Of course, this isn’t the first time in her tennis life that Williams had looked a little shaky, but now the uncertainty hit just as she seeked to confirm her place as the greatest in history. After winning this summer’s Wimbledon to put herself level with Steffi Graf’s record, the dominant figure of this generation has the opportunity at the US Open to become the first woman of the professional era to score 23 Grand Slam singles titles. But she is hardly going to be walking out into the Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing the cloak of invincibility (a Nike dress will have to suffice).
Not when she had won two matches since defeating Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final. Missing from the North American WTA hard-court swing because of a shoulder injury, Williams compete at the Olympic tennis tournament, but she only made it through a couple of rounds before she was beaten by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, producing a performance littered with double-faults.
186
Williams was guaranteed to tie Steffi Graf’s record for the most consecutive weeks spent as the world No.1
The result is that Williams, who had been the world No.1 since February 2013, had found her alpha status under threat from Kerber. But for Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who defeated Kerber in the Cincinnati final, the German would be heading into the final Grand Slam of the year at the top of the standings, and Williams would have been bumped down to better, seeded second at her home slam.
Once you add the US Open fortnight to the tally, Williams will have spent 186 consecutive weeks as the No.1, which will equal Graf’s record. But it is by no means certain that she will leave New York on the top line of that list. Kerber could replace her, as could Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska (though Kerber is much better placed, since she is only defending third-round points from last year).
For many, the ideal finish to the Grand Slam year would see Williams and Kerber meet in the final, as in that scenario they would be playing for the No.1 ranking as well as for the title. After their meetings in the Australian Open and Wimbledon finals – Kerber was the champion in Melbourne, while Williams triumped at the All England Club – this is starting to look like something that has been missing for so long at the top of the women’s game: a genuine rivalry.
You might say that Williams’ vulnerabilities have never been as exposed to the wider tennis world, and to the public, as they are right now. In part, that’s thanks to an all-access documentary, recently aired, that followed her last season as she attempted to become the first player since Graf in 1988 to accomplish the calendar-year Grand Slam.
Undefeated in Melbourne, Paris and London, she came unstuck against Vinci in one of the greatest upsets in tennis history, which left her “in a dark hole”. It’s a different landscape for Williams this season. After defeats in the Australian Open and Roland Garros finals this season, there had been some concern about when – or if – she would achieve parity with Graf on 22 majors.
That concern had evidently spread to Williams herself. After equalling Graf’s tally on Centre Court, she declared that “enjoying the moment” was the sole entry on her agenda, given that the pressure of chasing No.22 had proved so debilitating.
For the best, though, the pursuit of history is unending. The time to enjoy the moment is over, and Williams will once again be swinging for sporting immortality at Flushing Meadows. She will never again play at the US Open under the same weight of expectation and pressure as she did last summer, but questions persist, particularly in light of Rio.
And yet, all this doubt surrounding Williams could end up working to her benefit – it certainly did at Wimbledon.