By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, August 24, 2020
Serena Williams summoned the cat suit and fierce fighting spirit subduing Arantxa Rus 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(0) in her epic W&S Open opener.
Photo credit: @CincyTennis Western & Southern Open
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A defiant Williams brought back the black cat suit and her fierce fighting spirit subduing Arantxa Rus 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-6(0) in an epic two hour, 48-minute Western & Southern Open opener.
It was Williams’ fourth straight three-setter.
Wearing kinesiology taping on her upper left leg and back, the third seed made a fierce stand facing sweltering 90-degree heat—and a former junior world No. 1 opponent who was firing her forehand with confidence and command.
"Physically I feel like I'm incredibly fit," Williams said. "I did hit a wall today in the second set. I was so hot. That never happens.
"So I think physically I'm fit. Tennis is mental. You know, it's all mental."
In the end, Williams finished a demanding physical test with a flourish firing a 118 mph ace as she steamrolled through a shutout tiebreaker sealing her longest match in eight years on the Grandstand Court at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
“I’m trying to remember the last time I played a three-hour match—it was in Madrid,” Williams told Andrew Krasny afterward. “It was a real physical match out there.
“Honestly, I just thought well I tried. I really thought I played pretty well. I was aggressive. I was hitting some good shots, but she kept fighting.”
The left-handed Rus held a set point in the first-set tiebreaker and served for the match at 6-5 in the decider. Williams exploited the Dutchwoman’s eighth double fault then ripped a return to break back and force the decisive breaker.
In the Lexington quarterfinals earlier this month, Williams dropped six of the last eight points in the third-set tiebreaker bowing to 116th-ranked Shelby Rogers 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Pushed to another tiebreak test today, the 23-time Grand Slam champion stepped it up and shot Rus down.
“I don’t know [how I came back],” Williams said. “If I can do this—whoa I trained really hard for several months—so I’m surprised I was even tired. It was really physical out there.
Even playing behind closed doors, Serena draws attention. Three-time US Open champion Kim Clijsters was one of a handful of spectators for the match on Grandstand.
Signs of rust were evident early—Williams whiffed on a forehand return swing to end the second game—in just her fourth match since Fed Cup in February.
The world No. 72 held to force the tiebreaker in a first-set devoid of a service break.
One of the longest exchanges of the match ensued with Williams amping up heat on her groundstrokes and the volume on her grunt. Rus withstood that sustained fury drawing a running forehand that barely missed the mark for the mini break and a 3-2 lead.
The Dutchwoman clanked her third double fault handing the mini-break back. Williams threw down a 110 mph serve wide, but sprayed a crosscourt backhand wide as Rus stepped up to serve with a 5-4 lead.
Unloading her heaviest strikes of the match, Williams erupted in a primal scream leveling at 5-all. The lefty sent a bold body serve to earn set point. Williams whipped a forehand winner to deny it.
A dipping crosscourt forehand gave the six-time US Open champion a set point of her own. Williams launched a baseline barrage to end a fierce 59-minute first set that saw her win 22 of 24 first-serve points.
Disguise is a strength of Rus’ forehand: she can curl it crosscourt or turn her shoulders and drive it down the line. That effective combination befuddled Williams, whose error count was piling up, as the Dutchwoman scored her second straight break.
Rus raced through a confident hold for her fourth consecutive game and a 4-1 second-set lead.
Wearing a black tank top with a silver lightning bolt emblazoned on the front, Rus struck a backhand bolt crosscourt snatching the 40-minute second set and forcing a decider.
Rus served just 48 percent but converted two of three break points in the set.
On a searing 90-degree day the heat rule was in effect. Both women departed the court for a 10-minute break before starting the decider with a bang.
"I never take a break—ever. Because I'm always ready," Williams said. "But for whatever reason I think I was sweating so much, like I was pouring, like pouring sweat. It was just like pouring out of my pores.
"But I was able to recover and feel better in the third. Yeah, so I'm going to still wear black."
A stubborn Serena saved four break points, belting a backhand drive volley to save the fourth, and held to open. Williams would extend the lead to 5-2 only to see Rus rally with a four-game run and serve for the match at 6-5.
When the world No. 72 sailed a crosscourt forehand wide dropping serve, Williams exhaled deeply, tugged on her black Nike visor and stepped up to the line to start the third-set tie breaker.
Like fellow US Open champion Pete Sampras, Serena can summon blazing heat at closing time. Williams rocked a 118 mph ace out wide—her 14th ace of the match—for a 4-0 lead and never looked back.
Slamming a crosscourt forehand to end a gripping struggle, a weary Williams offered no victory celebration. In fact, a high-quality clash came to an anti-climactic conclusion as Rus appeared to intentionally avoid the post-match racquet tap in this Coronavirus climate.
Next up for Williams is another potential big battle vs. 13th-seeded Maria Sakkari, who topped Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 7-6(9).
A tournament that began with 16 American women now has only six still standing: Serena, Jessica Pegula, Bernarda Pera, Christina McHale, Madison Keys and CiCi Bellis.