Sport
Serena Williams beats Ivanovic to reach US Open Quarter Finals
And then there’s Williams’ serve, which is generally regarded as the most effective in women’s tennis and delivered nine aces and permitted only one break against Ivanovic.
“I just have confidence in it. It’s a weapon,” said Williams, whose pal, filmmaker Spike Lee, sat in her guest box. “I’m just like, ‘OK, I’m going to hit an ace here.’ I hit an ace.”’
Williams, a three-time champion at the U.S. Open, is back in a major quarterfinal for the first time since she won the Wimbledon championship in 2010, a 14-month gap filled with health scares that kept her off tour for nearly a year.
The lack of matches pushed Williams’ ranking down to 175th, and while consecutive hard-court titles at Stanford and Toronto raised it, she’s seeded only 28th in New York.
Next for Williams is a match against No. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, who came back to beat No. 7 Francesca Schiavone of Italy 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 in a ragged match. There were 16 breaks of serve in 31 total games, and the two women combined for 21 double-faults.
With the wind whipping at 15 to 20 mph that arena earlier, Williams and Ivanovic both found it difficult to direct their shots exactly where they wanted them. On one serve, a gust knocked the magenta visor off Ivanovic’s head, resulting in the point being replayed.
“My serve broke down a little more than hers did,” said Ivanovic, who hurt herself with eight double-faults, including three in one game.
Williams generally nitpicks her performances, and she did so again Monday, although without getting into what specifically disappointed her.
What there’s not a thing wrong with, she made clear, is her confidence.
After providing the caveat that she doesn’t “know” if she’s the best female tennis player in the world at the moment, regardless of what the rankings say – she added: “I believe I am.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
