US OPEN, New York (USA)

[8] Serena Williams (USA) defeated [5] Elina Svitolina (UKR) 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals. Svitolina had six break point opportunities in the first set and did not capitalize. Williams tightened up her focus and protected her serve perfectly in the second set and Svitolina had no opportunities to break her serve. Williams only converted one of the three break opportunities she had in the first set; however, she converted three out of her five break point opportunities in the second set. Williams was focused and calm, she showed no signs of nerves. If Williams can take this form and mental state into the final, she can finally win her twenty-fourth major title.

Serena and Bianca’s semifinal stats against their respective opponent

STATS	SERENA WILLIAMS	BIANCA ANDREESCU
1st SERVE % IN	58%	59%
1st SERVE % WON	86%	70%
2nd SERVE % WON	60%	41%
NET POINTS WON	69%	69%
BREAK POINTS WON	50%	57%
RECEIVING POINTS WON	48%	44%
WINNERS	34	40
UNFORCED ERRORS	20	38
DOUBLE FAULTS	1	9

Bencic had chances to change the outcome of her match

[15] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) defeated [13] Belinda Bencic (SUI) 7-6(3), 7-5 in the semifinals. Bencic’s downfall was her failure to capitalize on her break point opportunities in the first set and her failure to protect the lead she had in the second set. Bencic had six break points and did not break once. Bencic also had a 4-1 lead in the second set; yet, she lost the set and the match, which tells us something about the competitive nature and the tennis savvy of Andreescu.

Williams post motherhood major finals

Williams won her twenty-third major title at the 2017 Australian Open. Since her return from delivering her daughter, Williams has had three chances to get to number twenty-four. She has had some not so stellar performances and some downright ugly moments in those finals. This will be her fourth opportunity to tie Margaret Court’s record; however, standing in her way is another feisty youngster.

Andreescu may be Williams biggest threat to the title because she has nothing to lose and she recently defeated Williams in a final. Yet, this may be the stimulus that Williams needs to keep her focus and play the quality tennis she produced in the latter stages of this US Open. Williams does not like losing twice in a row to anyone; however, there was another feisty teenager that caught her twice (Maria Sharapova in 2004); I know Williams probably remembers that and will want to avoid the same fate against Andreescu.

SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally originals