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Serena Williams Restores Order at Wimbledon Williams Advances Easily on a Day of Fewer Waves at Wimbledon
(about 3 hours later)
WIMBLEDON, England — Entering the gates of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Thursday morning, you expected to see something, anything, that would reflect the strange and momentous happenings of the day before. WIMBLEDON, England — Entering the gates of the All England Club on Thursday morning, you expected to see something, anything, that would reflect the strange and momentous happenings of the day before.
But there was nothing: no plaque being hammered onto a green wall to commemorate ‘'Wild Wednesday'’; no upset-shocked victims receiving treatment; no orange-soled shoes visible inside what the British call a dustbin. But there was nothing: no plaque being hammered onto a green wall to commemorate a wild Wednesday; no upset-shocked victims receiving treatment; no orange-soled shoes visible inside what the British call a dustbin.
Instead, order had been thoroughly restored at elegant, proudly bourgeois Wimbledon even if Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka were no longer around to appreciate the amenities. Instead, order had been restored at Wimbledon even if Roger Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Victoria Azarenka were no longer around to appreciate the amenities, and even if Maria Sharapova was hanging around only to watch her boyfriend, Grigor Dimitrov, dig deep into a fifth set before rain ended the suspense for the night.
Thud Thursday still featured quite a few more slips on the slick, first-week grass; even two more retirements — from the veteran Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Paul-Henri Mathieu that brought the tournament total to 12 after just two rounds. Thud Thursday still featured a few more slips on the slick grass, as well as two more retirements — from the veteran Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Paul-Henri Mathieu — that brought the tournament total to 12 after two rounds.
But there were no more genuine temblors: no sign of Wednesday’s current of electricity and possibility that made stars feel vulnerable and outsiders feel like this day had to be the day they could crash the party. But there was no sign of Wednesday’s electricity, the sense of possibility that made stars feel vulnerable and outsiders feel as if this day simply had to be the day they could crash the party.
As you stumbled about, disoriented, in the early-afternoon sunshine, the realization also dawned that, for all the upsets and the superlatives (the 81-year-old coach Nick Bollettieri called Wednesday ‘'easily the craziest day of tennis I have ever seen'’) that the tournament had actually not been kicked that far off the rails at all. By early afternoon Thursday, it became apparent that for all the upsets and the superlatives — the 81-year-old coach Nick Bollettieri called Wednesday “easily the craziest day of tennis I have ever seen” — Wimbledon had not been kicked that far off the rails after all.
Though Sharapova and Azarenka are gone in the bottom half, Serena Williams, the overwhelming favorite and defending champion, was still in contention at the top of the women’s draw. Although Rafael Nadal and the defending champion Federer are out after two rounds, the No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Andy Murray have yet to lose a set. Djokovic advanced on Thursday with a 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-1 victory over Bobby Reynolds, a 30-year-old American qualifier whose departure gave the United States no men in the third round in singles for the first time since 1912 (when no American men played at all).
Williams soon underscored the point with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in the second round over 19-year-old Caroline Garcia of France, who did confess that Wild Wednesday had given her, however briefly, a little more zip in her step. As for the women’s draw, Serena Williams, the overwhelming favorite and defending champion, remains hale and hearty. She underscored the pecking order with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Caroline Garcia, 19, of France who confessed that Wednesday had given her, however briefly, a little more zip in her step.
‘'It does give you ideas,'’ she said. “It does give you ideas,” she said.
But Williams had other ones, and they included not being spooked by the acrid smell of another day’s danger. Williams said she followed the tumult closely. But Williams had other ones, and she said she followed the tumult closely.
‘'The first thing I do is, I’m like, ‘O.K., Serena, stay focused,' '’ she said. ‘'This happened before. I don’t know when. I want to say it was the U.S. Open, though. A lot of players were losing. I thought, definitely want to stay focused and stay serious. So that’s what I did again yesterday. I was like, ‘O.K., be on your toes and be ready for anything.' '’ “The first thing I do is, I’m like, ‘O.K., Serena, stay focused,’ ” she said. “This happened before. I don’t know when. I want to say it was the U.S. Open, though. A lot of players were losing. I thought, definitely want to stay focused and stay serious. So that’s what I did again yesterday.”
Garcia lifts her eyes to the sky well before she tosses up the ball to serve, and it ultimately seemed like a fine idea to seek help from above in light of Williams’s current form. Garcia did make a better spectacle of this straight-sets defeat than she did of her more wide-eyed loss in the same round of this year’s French Open. Garcia lifts her eyes to the sky well before she tosses up the ball to serve, and it ultimately seemed like a fine idea to seek help from above in light of Williams’s current form. Williams rolled to her 33rd straight victory and has also won 28 straight sets, which meant that after all the drama-tinged news conferences and pretournament public apologies, she could settle into a much more lighthearted vein on Thursday.
She even got some applause from Williams after one of her spectacular, quick-whipping forehands caught the American by surprise down the line. It included a debate about a would-be battle of the sexes with Murray.
‘'I wasn’t so intimidated this time,'’ Garcia said. Opening question: “Andy Murray has challenged you to a showdown in Las Vegas. What is your answer?”
But Williams still rolled to her 33rd straight victory and has also won 28 straight sets, which meant that after all the heavy-duty news conferences and pretournament public apologies, she could kick back and settle into a much more lighthearted vein Thursday. Williams: “He’s challenged me?”
It included debate about a would-be battle of the sexes with the British star Andy Murray (another Wimbledon staple still very much in contention this year). That led to discussion of Williams’s long-ago match (and defeat) against the cigarette-smoking German journeyman Karsten Braasch in Australia in 1998.
Opening question: ‘'Andy Murray has challenged you to a showdown in Las Vegas. What is your answer?'’ “I was really young: I’m a lot more experienced now,” Williams said, before considering Murray.
Williams: ‘'He’s challenged me? “He’s probably one of the top three people I definitely don’t want to play,” she said. “But yeah, maybe we can have a little bit of a showdown. That would be fine. I get alleys. He gets no serves. I get alleys on my serves, too. He gets no legs. Yeah.”
All of which led to Williams’s long-ago challenge (and defeat) against the cigarette-smoking German journeyman Karsten Braasch in Australia. Williams will now get the chance to feel young again in her next match, when she faces Kimiko Date-Krumm, the enduring Japanese player who at nearly 43 is the oldest woman in the Open era to advance to Wimbledon’s third round in singles.
‘'I was really young: I’m a lot more experienced now,'’ Williams said, before considering Murray. The two have never played, and if anyone can throw Williams off rhythm, it is Date-Krumm, who once almost chopped and changed tactics enough to knock the other five-time Wimbledon champion in the Williams family (Venus) out of the singles.
‘'He’s probably one of the top three people I definitely don’t want to play. But yeah, maybe we can have a little bit of a showdown. That would be fine. I get alleys. He gets no serves. I get alleys on my serves, too. He gets no legs. Yeah.'’ “I did see that match; I think I lost four years of my life watching that match, so I will definitely be talking to Venus,” Serena Williams said.
Thud Thursday might not have had big upsets, but it did have banter. And Williams will now get the chance to feel very young again in her next match when she faces Kimiko Date-Krumm, the enduring (and enduring) Japanese player who at nearly 43 years old is the oldest woman in the Open era to advance to Wimbledon’s third round. But even as Williams talked about the future, there was still plenty of talk about the past (as in Wednesday); about Federer’s increasingly evident fade and about the revival (even if ephemeral) of the serve-and-volley style that has most of the middle-age former stars on the grounds licking their chops with something that could be called nostalgic anticipation.
The two have surprisingly never played, and if anyone can throw the zoning Williams off rhythm it is Date-Krumm, a master of the slice and the contretemps who once almost chopped and changed tactics enough to knock the other five-time Wimbledon champion from the Williams family (Venus) out of the tournament. “We all want to see serve-and-volley back,” said Mats Wilander, 48, the former world No. 1 from Sweden.
‘'I did see that match; I think I lost four years of my life watching that match, so I will definitely be talking to Venus,'’ Serena Williams said. It was back in full, risk-taking flow on Wednesday on Centre Court as the 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky decided that the only way to nudge the odds in his favor was to deprive Federer of time by following his serve to net, preferably after having delivered a serve to his weaker backhand wing.
But even as Williams talked about the future, there was still plenty of talk about the past (we mean Wednesday); about Federer’s increasingly evident fade and about the revival of the serve-and-volley style that has most of the middle-aged former stars on the grounds licking their chops with nostalgic anticipation even if that sounds like an oxymoron. Such clarity can help a tennis player. If you have just one legitimate option, sticking by that option is the easiest path to take. The enormous surprise was that Federer, even in his diminished 2013 state, could not find a way to solve the riddle, and he will drop to at least No. 5 in the rankings after the tournament.
‘'We all want to see serve-and-volley back,'’ said Mats Wilander, 48, the former world No. 1 from Sweden. His chances of winning an 18th Grand Slam singles title are not over, but his days of doing it as the favorite certainly seem to be done. Federer, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, still hit some brilliant shots, but he also hit too many shaky ones to avoid putting an exclamation point on the long, flowing, Fitzgeraldian sentence that was Wednesday.
It was back in full, risk-taking flow Wednesday on Centre Court as the 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky decided that the only way to push the odds in his favor was to deprive Federer of time by following his serve to the net, preferably after having delivered a serve to his weaker backhand wing. Thursday was much more suited to Hemingway even if it ended in typical English fashion: under umbrellas.
That sort of clarity can help a tennis player.
If you have just one legitimate option, it is ever so much easier to stick by that option. The enormous surprise was that Federer, even in his diminished 2013 state, could not find a way to solve the riddle.
He did hit some brilliant shots, but he also hit too many tentative ones to avoid putting an exclamation point on the long, florid, Fitzgeraldian sentence that was Wednesday.
Thursday was much more suited to Hemingway.