Today, Jon Wertheim was talking about little inspirational phrases that players recall or read in order to propel themselves to victory. Serena's phrase, he speculated, is "Get off my lawn!"
And there you are. Serena Williams dismantled world number 1 Victoria Azarenka, 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals of the Olympic Games in London. Williams hit 33 winners, including 16 aces, and made only five unforced errors. This was the 4th seed's 14th win over a world number 1.
Maria Sharapova impressively won the other semifinal, beating countrywoman Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-3, and hitting five times as many winners as her opponent.
Williams has an 8-2 record against Sharapova, and has won their last seven matches.
Kirilenko and Azarenka will compete for the bronze medal.
Top doubles seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond were defeated 6-1, 7-6 in the semifinals today by 4th seeds Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Still to be played is the semifinal between Serena and Venus Williams and the Russian team of Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova. Williams and Kirilenko are busy players at the Games.
8 comments:
You've made it to the big time Diane, Peter Bodo is borrowing your observations:
"Ordinarily as cool as a Hitchcock blonde..."
http://espn.go.com/tennis/blog/_/name/bodo_peter/id/8230859/2012-olympic-tennis-maria-sharapova-patriotism-authentic
-David
Recall that Sharapova really beat Williams only once, at Wimbledon in 2004. Williams was injured at the year end WTA championships and had to push her serve. She almost won it anyway, going up 4-0 in the decider.
Sharapova has more game now, but so does Williams.
If it's windy, Williams has a big advantage - lower ball toss. If it's not, she still has the better serve. I would not bet against her.
You're right--really once that "counted," though it counted in a big way. Strange, isn't it? I hope it's a good match; I'm looking forward to it.
David,
Wow. I wish he would also borrow my opinions. What on Earth did Maria ever do to dcserve that kind of bashing?
I can't say Diane. I stopped reading Bodo because I noticed a trend of nastiness a while back. She is a great champion.
-Diane
The player who should be beating Serena is on hiatus, showing little of the resolve and fantastic ball striking that she did last year, even in most of her matches against lower- and much lower-ranked opponents. Will she wake up? Does she have trouble in her love life? Does she hate the corporate and media demands? We'll see, will we not?
I still think she's going to come out of this slump and then there will be some really good competition. I do wonder whether she needs to get a new coach, though--just for a fresh start.
For what it's worth, I offer this: Against Pennetta, we saw the Kvitova of "old." Could her resurrection be at hand? I hope so.
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