This year’s Open has been about major upsets, particularly on the men’s side of the draw, and of former greats turning back the clock and marching toward the final weekend. On the women’s side, this is betst highlighted by Venus Williams.
Serena’s older sister is surely the poster girl for overcoming major illnesses and longevity on the tennis court.
Many young fans will be discovering Venus for the first time, as she returns to the semi-finals at Melbourne Park after a 14-year absence.
Yesterday she played some of her best tennis of the tournament to defeat the number 24 seed, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who had four breaks of serve against her, and yet the 36-year-old American still won in straight sets.
After the win, Venus reaffirmed her belief that she can win the year’s first major.
“Should I look across the net and believe the person across the net deserves it more? This mentality is not how champions are made,” she said.
“I’d like to be a champion, in particular this year. The mentality I walk on court with is: I deserve this.”
Ominous words indeed.
Added to this is the possibility of an all Williams-sisters final.
On the other side of the draw, 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena is also moving her way to the final, but could well be forced to essentially play two mini-championships.
The tennis draw gods have either been kind to fans – placing three of the favourites in the same section of the draw, hence creating what should be entertaining quarter and semi-finals matches – or they have been cruel, depending on how you look at it.
Today Serena will meet Britain’s Jo Konta for the first time in her career, in what should be a compelling match.
Konta is in the form of her life, winning Sydney prior to travelling to Melbourne. Neither have dropped a set so far this tournament, so expect some good, old-fashioned ball bashing as they both attempt to steamroll their way into the next round.
In the other quarter-final, Czech Karolina Pliskova meets Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia. Prior to this year, Lucic-Baroni’s best performance at the Australian Open was a second round appearance, at the end of last century, in 1998. The winner of this match will meet the winner of the Williams vs Konta match.
If it is Serena in the semis against Pliskova, we may well have the second of the aforementioned mini-finals.
Pliskova was so tantalisingly close to winning the US Open last September, taking the second set and leading 3-1 in the final set, before going down to Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
On her way to the final in New York, she beat both Venus and Serena.
Pliskova began this year by winning the Brisbane International and is a genuine contender.
Should Serena get through to the final and move one slam victory behind Margaret Court, it will be one of her most deserved. She’s had a challenging draw and her path to the end has been littered with quality opponents.
If it is a Williams sisters affair in the final, then a new generation of fans will be transported back to the tennis landscape of the beginning of this century.
Either way, the women’s draw is most definitely alive and well.
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