By Shara Talia Taylor
Days are getting cooler with the end of summer, but Serena Williams is just warming up at the US Open.
Williams became more active through several intense matches, two that went to a third set over the last few days. Her powerful serve did not fail her as she pushed ahead to the quarterfinals over the Labor Day weekend at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Prior to the Us Open, Williams had a 3-2 record in the five matches she had competed in since the shutdown of sports due to Covid-19. Williams won three matches since last Thursday after a successful week, when she just broke the record for most wins at the U.S. Open,102, held by Chris Evert.
Last Williams, took on Margarita Gasparyan on a rainy Thursday night without fans in attendance because of COVID-19. The 26-year old tennis player ranked 117th in the world.
The second set seemed to be more difficult for Williams. She seemed tired and stationary, yet was able to finish the match with the fast speed of her serves, one recorded at 118 mph. Williams defeated Gasparyan 6-2, 6-4 and moved ahead to round three. She said in her on-court interview following the match that she was happy to get through it and focus on next round. Williams was asked to examine her next opponent Sloan Stephens in the press conference following the match.
“It’s an incredibly interesting match, because she’s actually a US Open champion,” Williams said. “You can’t win a grand slam and not be really really, really good.”
Stephens was competitive and Williams had a slow start and had to push her way back after losing the first set. She defeated Stephens 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Williams appeared to play less at the net Saturday versus Thursday.
“It wasn’t on purpose to not, but I have been coming in more,” she said. “So, I’ll keep that in mind for the next match.”
Stephens said she thought Williams served a lot better in the second set when asked whether she noticed a difference and how she prepared for the third set.
“Yeah, I thought she raised her level on her serve,” Stephens said. “Obviously she has one of the greatest serves in the game. It’s really difficult to read. Yeah, definitely something that I thought was a little bit trickier, but I just tried to get my racquet on a lot of the balls and make her play as best I could.”
When Williams faced 24-year-old Maria Sakkari on Monday, it was expected that this match could be challenging for Williams as lost to Sakkari in the third round of the Western & Southern Open in New York 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 the previous week.
The match was competitive. Williams was more mobile and moved towards the net, once catching Sakkari off guard and winning the point. Other times Sakkari countered her approach with fast deep shots. Williams hit cross-court shots away from Sakkari forcing her to move. Sakkari also had her fair share of fast serves. Williams won the first set, but lost the tie-breaker in the second set. Williams defeated Sakkari 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
Maria Sakkari said she was confident going into the third set. “I said to myself, ‘I did it once I can do it again of course’ and that was my mentality up until the end,” she said. “She just came out with some better tennis when she had to. More experience. She took her chances when I didn’t.”
Williams said she was able to compete longer against Sakkari in comparison to their last match.
“I was a little fatigued last time and had some cramps,” Williams said. “She’s such a good competitor. So it was still really an intense match.”
Williams hopes to claim her 24th grand slam title now at the age of 38 and mother to 3-year-old Alexis Olympia Ohanian.
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