Serena slam up in the air

IT is being called the Serena slam.

And suddenly it finds itself threatened by a fresh slice of sibling rivalry.

Twelve years after Serena Williams last held all four major titles in her grip, most would regard it as a surprise indeed if SW19 this year didn’t witness the sequel.

Things with Serena, however, are rarely straightforward and there was a major twist in this particular plot line when the draw for the ladies singles emerged on Friday.

Her big sister Venus may well stand in the way if the 33-year-old is to claim her sixth Wimbledon title, and her 21st Grand Slam win in all.

Why should Serena stop there?

Win on home soil at Flushing Meadows and she would have broken down the doors to an even more exclusive club.

Steffi Graf and Margaret Court are the only players in the Open Era to have won all the major titles up for grabs in any particular calendar year.

Novak Djokovic couldn’t do it, but that doesn’t mean Serena can’t.

Let’s face it: she has achieved most things she has set her mind to in her career thus far. The Williams have been responsible for some notable sister acts at SW19 over the years.

They have met four times in finals, Serena winning three to Venus’s one, matches which spawned numerous rather disparaging stories about the pair meeting up over breakfast to decide how to divide up the spoils.

Not since the semi-finals in 2000 have they met at this venue in any match which wasn’t a final, though, and it is worth noting both that Venus is the only player to have beaten Serena more than once at this location and it was Venus who prevailed the last time they met in any tour match, in Montreal in 2014.

It would be an outlandish story line indeed if the 35-year-old, having built herself back up to No 16 in the world rankings after suffering from an auto-immune illness during 2011, should upstage her younger sister again.

The prize which is up for grabs is known as the Venus Rosewater dish but this fortnight will be the younger Williams sister’s 16th appearance at the Championships and she has certainly written her name upon the place.

Her first title actually came in the mixed doubles, alongside Max Mirnyi of Belarus back in 1998, while five others came alongside her sister in the ladies doubles.

So dominant a player has she been during this era that her five singles wins seem almost less noteworthy than the times where she fell spectacularly to earth.

Those who sense she may be vulnerable to an early round shock will make note of the fact that she has crashed out in the early rounds to Alize Cornet and Sabine Lisicki in her last two visits here, while she also has defeats to unseeded players on her resume here to Jill Craybas and Virginia Ruano Pascal.

She has twice taken the Wimbledon crown without dropping a set, and indeed has surrendered just seven sets to win fife singles titles, but at times during an injury and illness ravaged recent Roland Garros run which saw her drop no fewer than five, it seemed like her sheer strength of will was pulling her through.

Her last visit to Wimbledon may have been the most bizarre yet, playing a ladies doubles encounter shortly after exiting the singles competition and suddenly appearing to be unable to catch or bounce balls, or get serves over the net, against Kristina Barrois and Stefanie Voegele.

As if stung by the response to it all, she hasn’t lost a single singles match at any of the majors since.

Chris Evert, the ESPN analyst, whose 18 Grand Slams have now been superseded by Serena, admits it will be fascinating to follow her progress.

Assuming it is the 33-year-old who emerges strongest from her fourth round tie, lying in wait in the semi-final could be Maria Sharapova, the Russian World No 2 who defeated Serena back in the 2004 final here.

That apart, main contenders to take the crown include reigning champion Petra Kvitova and her countrywoman Lucie Safarova, the 28-year-old who reached the semis here last year and extended Serena to a final set in Paris.

Evert, though, can’t help the feeling that Serena’s main battle will be against herself.

“To me her game is better suited to the grass courts than it is to the clay,” said Evert. “She struggled through the French, remarkably winning it. But with her serve, her power, her mobility on the court, it should be one of the easier Grand Slams for her. These matches are all on her racquet. Her main adversaries are basically going to be [finding] motivation day in and day out for two weeks. It’s all up to her.

“When she is at her best she is better than anybody else,” added Evert. “But at the same time we’ve seen some hiccups and we’ve seen some drama. She can’t afford to have any more drama like at the French Open.

The last couple of Wimbledons have been like that as well. It wouldn’t surprise me if she won. At the same time it wouldn’t surprise me either if she had a bad loss because I think the number one key is the motivation. As you get older that is not always there every single match and it is not something you can manufacture.”

One suspects neither Williams sister will lack for motivation in the event that they stage one last instalment of their epic SW19 sister act in the fourth round. — Scotland Herald.