Serena Williams, struggling with a variety of injuries, came back from a set and four games down to beat Victoria Azarenka in three sets, 4–6, 7–6, 6–2 at the Australian Open tennis tournament.
Something of a Queen of Comebacks, Williams has pulled herself out of set-and a few-games holes in major tournaments five times before this, her greatest comeback to date.
When asked how she rated this comeback, Williams told an ESPN reporter, “It’s up there.
Something of a Queen of Comebacks, Williams has pulled herself out of set-and a few-games holes in major tournaments five times before this, her greatest comeback to date.
When asked how she rated this comeback, Williams told an ESPN reporter, “It’s up there.
“She was playing so well, I was down love-four, and I thought, ‘well, I have nothing to lose at this point. I’ve gotten here to the quarter-finals, I’m excited,’ and I just started finally making my shots
“I didn’t serve well in the first-set and-a-half, almost two sets, and my serve was really off. I think when your serve’s off—I kind of rely on that so it was kind of just making my whole game go off.”
Williams came on to the court with a heavily wrapped left calf and right thigh. Her movement seemed limited, and at times she winced and groaned in pain during the first two set.
After having never dropped a game on serve (in fact, having faced only twelve break points) in the tournament to this point, Williams was broken on three times in the first set and twice in the second. She seemed disgusted with her play, unable to get to shots, and unable to hit her serves.
Twenty-year-old Victoria Azarenka did not seem at all intimidated to be facing the world’s number one female player. Except for missing too many first serves, Azarenka played excellent tennis, mixing her shots, attacking Williams at the net, and placing her shots where Williams had to struggle to chase them.
“She played incredible and I think she made me play better because she was playing so well,” Williams said of her opponent.
Though the first set was long and hard fought, Azarenka seemed in control the whole way. She took the set, 6–4.
Williams Rebounds
Azarenka dominated the first half of the second set. The match seemed hers, as, four games to love, she was only eight points away from advancing to the semi-finals, and Williams seemed to be having problems with her legs, and later, her back.
Suddenly Williams, realizing that she had nothing to lose, seemed to find a way past her problems to start playing her game. She started hitting with more power, and moving a bit better. She held her serve at 4–1, and broke Azarenka in the next game. She opened the seventh game with a 120-mph ace, her fastest serve of the match to that point by far, announcing to Azarenka that she was not down and out,; instead, she was finally in the match.
The set went to a tiebreaker, which Williams won 7–4, giving her the set, 7–6.
The third set was all Serena. Williams ran hard, hit hard, made very few errors, and put away Victoria Azarenka away, 6–2. Azarenka did not slow down, to lose the match. Her play was excellent throughout. Serena Williams simply decided to win, and rolled over Azarenka like an avalanche.
An indication of the improvement in her play: after the fourth game in the second set, Williams had 28 winners and 29 unforced errors. By the end of the match, she had 78 winners and only 38 unforced errors, with 17 aces.
Williams goes on to face China’s Li Na in the semis. When asked about Li Na, Williams replied, “I’ve played her a few times and she’s beaten me once so I know her game really well, so I look forward to it again I feel like, the way I feel I have got nothing to lose.”
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