Serena Williams was knocked out of the Lexington Open in the quarterfinals but that hasn’t deterred bookmakers from installing her as the women’s singles favourite at the US Open.
Playing in her first competitive tournament since her appearance at the Fed Cup in early February, Serena struggled to get past Bernarda Pera in the first round and was 4-2 down in the third set against her sister Venus Williams in the second round before turning things around and winning that encounter.
Still an overwhelming favourite against Shelby Rogers in the quarterfinals, Serena took the first set with utmost ease and not too many would have given her opponent much of a chance at that stage.
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Strangely, however, Serena failed to take control of the match after that and Rogers’ consistency and ability to keep the ball in play allowed her to make a comeback into the match.
Rogers went on to scoop the second set and then in the third, took it to the tie-breaker where she clinched it 7-5 to make it to the semifinals.
Williams, however, didn’t sound too perturbed by the defeat and said:
“I have only good things to take [from the match]. I could play a lot better, that’s the most thing that I can take. It’s good to know I can play a lot, lot, lot better.”
“I had an opportunity to possibly win in straight sets but I kind of made it difficult for myself by making a plethora of unforced errors.”
And as stinging as the defeat was for Williams, she starts off at 8/1 to win the US Open, which begins from later this month.
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Williams is currently chasing Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam wins with the former having won 23 so far. She hasn’t added to her majors tally since winning the 2017 Australian Open title after which she went on a maternity leave.
Since her return, Williams has reached the final of four Grand Slam competitions, twice apiece at Wimbledon and US Open, but lost each time.
That is one of the reasons for those narrow odds. Sure, Serena has all those Grand Slam trophies in her cabinet but it’s not been a case of living on her past laurels. Because even after returning to tennis, there have been four appearances in title-deciders and more than anything else, it has been a case of the nerves borne out of the impending record.
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The other reason is the withdrawals of some of the top players from the US Open. Other than world number one Ash Barty, the US Open women’s singles draw has been hit by the non-participation of some of the top players.
Defending champion Bianca Andreescu recently announced her withdrawal and Belinda Bencic also joined this ever-growing list. Earlier, Elina Svitolina and Kiki Bertens had also refused to travel to New York, leaving Serena with a better chance in the initial period.
This isn’t to say the likes of 2018 US Open winner Naomi Osaka, Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep (who is featuring in the Prague Open final this Sunday), Petra Kvitova and Garbine Muguruza don’t have a chance, not to mention some of the dark horses like Madison Keys, Aryna Sabalenka and Cori Gauff.
However, with a focussed target in mind, a solid performance at the US Open even while not winning the Slam and the missing of a few top players already, it looks like it could well be Serena’s season at Flushing Meadows.
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