Sabalenka, a nine-time WTA tournament winner, and Swiatek, the reigning French Open champion, are the youngest in a long line of polished phenomena inflicted by Williams’ career. One of the biggest stars to emerge, Naomi Osaka, saved two match points on Sunday to beat Garbiñe Muguruza. Still, from Jennifer Capriati and Monica Seles to Maria Sharapova and Sloane Stephens, Williams has seen many young talents come and go and occasionally stray far from tennis.
A sport with a history of suffocating his youngsters, Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion in singles, did not choke, and the love for the game seems to have deepened over time. Against Sabalenka, she studies a page of written notes as if she were back in high school. She fiddled with her ‘Queen’ necklace. She dug balls out of the corners and ran from side to side as if she were on a school top in the recess.
Darren Cahill, one of Halep’s coaches, described Williams ‘move as the best he’s seen of her in a long, long time, saying:’ If you can stay in more points and get more balls, stay life, then she has the power to reverse those points. ”
What Williams is doing is also unthinkable for the younger Americans, three of whom followed her the second week. Marveled, one of the three, 28-year-old Shelby Rogers: ‘What she was able to do is absolutely incredible, because some days I wake up now and feel,’ OK, I’m no longer 21 ‘. ”
With Williams’ knockdown, she can usually win her share of easy points. But against Sabalenka, her main weapon was constantly misfired. Williams put 52 percent of her first time into the game and scored eight double-fouls, including one in the fifth game of the third set, which gave Sabalenka two break points.