Big Difficult
WIMBLEDON, England—It was nothing like women's tennis we knew before the Williams sisters burst into the game. Heck, it wasn't even anything like their early triumphs at the U.S. Open or Wimbledon, this furious, vehement quarterfinal clash between defending champion Petra Kvitova and the four-time champ Serena Williams.
In all fairness, as much of the credit for this display of stereotype-shattering, convention-smashing tennis (that tinkle you hear is the sound of one of those notorious "glass ceilings" falling all around you) goes to Kvitova as to Serena, in exactly the proportions indicated by the 6-3, 7-5 score in favor of the American.
It's unlikely that anyone but Kvitova—at her best—could have matched Serena on this day when it came to ripping off forehands, concussive backhands, or those kabooming serves. And it's unlikely that Serena could have looked less secure, given the level of her game, were her opponent anyone but Kvitova. The big Czech (Kvitova stands 6-feet tall), with the big game, the big hook serve, and the big lashing forehand, reviewing her task, admitted afterward that playing Serena . . . "It is big difficult."
Emphasize "big."
She elaborated: "I think it was great match from both of us, and I think that she just serve much better than me. I think there were some really important points that I could play better. I think that was the different."
None was more important than Kvitova's lone break point of the match, which was simultaneously a set point in the second set. But she never really had a look at it, as Serena pounded a 109 M.P.H. service winner to the southpaw's backhand. It was yet another shot that, with the roof closed, sounded like nothing less than an angry rogue wave breaking on a rocky beach.
"I loved it," Serena said of the experience, her first time playing with the lid on Centre Court. "It was amazing for me. There was no elements, no excuses. . . I loved the sound. It was really cool. . . The sound of the balls—it's kind of like a whoosh and a pop. It's really cool. It's almost like a video game but you're playing. It kind of flies through and you hear it when it lands."
Roger that. The match was as brutal as "Grand Theft Auto." It also was decisive and swift, with an elapsed time of one hour and 24 minutes. We didn't see a rally that lasted 10 strokes until the seventh game of the second set. And Kvitova made just one serious misstep after Serena dismissed that set point at 4-5, which may have prevented her from forcing a third set. In the very next game, at 5-5, Kvitova bolted to a 30-0 lead, but Serena won three points running. At break point Kvitova made a good serve, and Serena popped the return up into the air at mid-court—and Kvitova smothered the forehand reply into the net. It was the only ghastly error of the match.
The abrupt ending might have been disappointing but for the fact that the match was always close and tense, which is why it was great, and might have become great with a capital "G" had it gone another set—or had Kvitova been able to sink her teeth into the match instead of biting down time and again on air. But Serena kept her at bay by taking excellent care of her own serve—if "taking care" is an acceptable way to describe the winner's aggressive approach to those games.
Serena rained down 13 aces (almost 20 percent of her points were won before they started), and stood by watching as 46 percent (28 of 61) of her total serve points went unreturned. Kvitova's numbers in this department were also good (18 of 65, for 28 percent), but not in the same league. Each woman made just two unforced return errors in the entire match, a testament to the stinging efficiency of both their serves. But the most critical difference may have been Serena's outstanding backhand return. And making that shot is the first priority for a right-hander engaged with a lefty who has any serve to speak of.
"Yeah, I think she expected my serve will come to the backhand because she has a really great return from the forehand," Kvitova said. "So it wasn't nice to just have like second serve to the forehand; it was better for me to go to the backhand. Yeah, I think she knows it before. That's why she could play like that on the returns today."
Kvitova hit 31 serves to Serena's backhand, and just just 16 to her forehand. Serena won 48 percent of those points, an excellent number against the kind of lefty serve Martina Navratilova herself could only have wished to own.
Said Serena: "I feel like I've been returning really well in practice—much better than any of my matches—so I'm thinking one day it's going to come through. I can still return a lot better, but it just hasn't quite clicked yet. But today was definitely better than the other matches."
I'm not sure how much better Serena could return, but I know she won't have to return more productively to win this title. And heaven help any woman who gets in her way if she continues to play with comparable aggression. Richard Williams, Serena's father, has been vocal in his disappointment with the way his daughter has played in the last few rounds. Clearly, he made his point, for today Serena admitted, "I had a good talk with my dad. He motivated me and my sister, as well. I had a talk with Patrick (Mouratoglau), too. It was great. Like all three of those got me really motivated to do better and be the player that know I can be."
It's hard to resist awarding Serena the title right now, and that's not intended as a slight of her rivals. Even Kvitova, who's as cautious as any player about making predictions, was unable to engage in the customarly charade when that question was finally broached. Will Serena be impossible to beat?
"I can't say impossible," Kvitova replied. "She's human. Yeah, I think that's why she's the great champion, because she knows what she needs to play in the important points. So I think that it's really tough to beat her."
Will Serena win? Like so many points at either end of the court in this match, the answer was brief, to the point, and unqualified. Said Kvitova, "I think so."