Sunday, October 27, 2013

Serena Williams braids her hair, regains super-powers, wins WTA Championships

During the first set of today's WTA Championships final in Istanbul, Li Na did to defending champion Serena Williams what Williams often does to her opponents--played her way seamlessly through tough rallies and then brought down the blade, often with a powerful forehand blow. Li served and volleyed. She worked her way to the net and put balls away. The Chinese star used controlled aggression to wear down an already very tired Williams, and she took the first set 6-2.

Li didn't let up for the first half of the second set. But her task became tougher, as Williams--who braided her hair between sets--suddenly began to look like herself. Remember, a physically and mentally exhausted Serena Williams is still--Serena Williams. And a quick twist of her thick hair brought about at least a metaphorical (I'm not excluding the possibility of the existence of magical powers) twist in her energy level. And that enabled her to sharpen her focus.

Williams won the second set 6-3. And then, not so slowly, began Li's familiar descent into Na Na Land. It should have been a cracker of a third set, but instead--suddenly bereft of confidence--Li unraveled. She could hardly get a decent first serve going, and her second serve was almost nonexistent. By this time, the aggression was clearly being carried out on the other side of the net, and the Williams serve was on fire. Williams took the final set 6-0, even after being down 0-40 when she served for the championship.

This was Williams' 11th title of the year, her 18th straight match win, and her 78th match win of 2013. The world number 1 has now won the WTA Championships four times, matching the accomplishments of Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf.

Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai won the doubles championship, defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 6-4, 7-5. Hsieh and Peng are from Chinese Taipei and China, respectively. They are long-time friends, and they won the 2013 Wimbledon championship.

The trophy ceremony also served as a ceremony of transfer, since the Championships will move from Istanbul to Singapore next year. The event is very popular in Istanbul, where it has been held for the last three years. It will be played in Singapore for five years.

My favorite fan sign: Li Na: Whatever, Whenever, Wherever, However. That kind of sums it up for me, too, and here's hoping that the Carlos Rodriguez-inspired improvements continue in 2014. As for Serena, she can now let her hair down and get some much-needed rest.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love it!

Eric said...

On the whole, Li Na is a better player now with Carlos...but I think she's lost some of her gutsy play which made her fun to watch before and dangerous against those seeded higher than her. (Sometimes - rarely - I feel this way about Serena with Patrick as well.) Better consistency, but when things get tight, they don't hit out as much. They would much rather play the percentages. Maybe this is also due to age?

I felt like today's performance from Li was really similar to when she faced Martina Hingis many years ago at the Australian Open. She also lost the final set 60. She needs to stop losing leads...or somehow be able to take back control of the match. Maybe she's too professional and she should throw something. I dunno...but she needs to get momentum back or break the inertia of her opponent. Players know that if they can hang with her, she will, as you say, go to Na Na Land. And it's just so hard to watch as a fan. Luckily, I'm a fan of about the entire Top 10 so the blow is tempered...but still. Li Na (and Petra) need to get their act together. No wonder they're friends though. They're very similar...

Eric said...

Li Na needs to take more risks with her forehand, like she did in 2010, 2011...

Diane said...

Carlos R., who is a pretty smart man, says that Na's tendency to fall apart when she "should" be confident is a product of "bad parenting" (my term, not his) by the Chinese Federation. I think he is most likely spot-on in his assessment. Petra is another matter--I don't know what her problem is.

Sabey said...

Very nice recap Diane!

Diane said...

Thanks, Sabey--and Anon!

Anonymous said...

It never cease to amaze me that China , a country with zero tradition in tennis, was represented in both single and doubles finals. And won the doubles final in a style totally opposed to the orthodox of serve and rush the net strategy.(a pair of no name Chinese women won the doubles gold medal in the Australia n Olympic playing the same way beating a terrific Spanish pair which included a former Wimbledon singles champion )

As for Li Na, one of the tennis magazine writers predicted earlier this year that she'll be the biggest bust in 2013.

Had she won the 1st game of the second set, she would have won.

She lost the final set 60 shows that she is human and why people like her.