Throughout her rich career, Serena Williams lost the set to zero only three times. This happened for the first time in the first round of Indian Wells qualification in 1997. Then the 16-year-old Serena (no rankings) with a score of 6: 4, 6: 0 upset Alex Deschamps-Buller. In 1999, on the Roland Garros Williams was sown on the 10th and in the third round with the score 3: 6, 6: 1, 0: 6 lost to Mary-Joe Fernandez. The last time this happened in 2005: in the semifinal Dubai match against Elena Yankovich, the American starred due to injury, losing 0: 6, 3: 4. All three bagels of past years with a calm conscience can be attributed to circumstances. When the first happened, the young Serena spent only the second official match in her career. The reasons for the second are the soil, and on it is an experienced soil rival. The third time there was an injury. But this Saturday, Serena earned a bagel from Justin Henin in the case.
Despite the fact that Serena had a decent hit rate of the first serve in the first set - 68%, from the first serve she won only 38% of the draws, and on the second serve for the entire set she managed to take only one ball. Someone will say that Serena just did not have time to find her game, that she did not move well on the court, could not really approach the ball and, as a result, was mistaken a lot. But it seems that Serena in the first set still played her game. In that game, which before this match aroused universal admiration, as it allowed her to beat everyone and everything. Serena really moved poorly on the court. But not because she got up on the wrong foot in the morning, but because recently she got used to winning almost standing up. With Justine, such numbers do not work.
But Serena would not be Serena if she had not tried to change something. Maybe she guessed it, or maybe the notes of dad Richard helped, but at the beginning of the second set she first went to the net. With this output, Serena herself gave herself a chance and marked the beginning of the long-awaited struggle in this exotic match. And yet this struggle was not equal. With the naked eye, it was clear that Justine was still leading the game, and Serena was just looking for control. Against this gaming background, a picture quite naturally drew up: Justine after all the works of the righteous leads with a break of 5: 4 and serves for the match.
And then Justine fell. This was hardly a serious injury. Then Henin would have taken off the match or at least taken a medical break. At the Australian Open 2006 final with Moresmo, we know that Henin is not one of those who can’t play through, and then, in Australia, no less was at stake. But, probably, the Belgian still experienced a slight discomfort. Otherwise, there is simply nothing to explain the double on the matchball and 6 consecutively lost games. After the fall, the double smell of fried and Serena added, but what she added was not enough to win the Belgian 6 games in a row.
Perhaps this fall and this failed serve for the match became the key in this meeting. But it would be a mistake to say that, having lost the second set, Justine immediately lost the match. She managed to recoup from 0: 3, and if she won her serve then, it is still unknown how it would end. Still, Henin not just ran past, she also has a champion character. But Justine fell again and after that she could not win back from 3: 5.
If the first fall of the Belgian can be considered the cause of a fracture in the match, the second looks more like its consequence. Playing three sets against Serena is always difficult, and especially in such a situation. As a result, all the effort went into catching up. But in order to lead, they were not enough at the right time. It is difficult to say who led the game in the decisive set. If by eye, then Serena. She caught courage, and Justine, on the contrary, had the wrong speeds and the severity of the attacking actions disappeared somewhere. The break statistics on this occasion says the following: Serena sold 2 break points out of 3, Justine - 1 out of 7. What can I say? Both fan camps can interpret these statistics in their favor.
Honestly, I wanted Justine to win this match. For some reason, smart tennis players are more respected than strong ones. Nobody argues - powerful tennis is not only effective, but also beautiful. But I do not want tennis players to cost their game in a modern women's round. But they do it, fascinated by the successes of the same Serena Williams. And unfortunately, there are very few exceptions to this big modern rule. Justine Henin is the brightest of them. The perfect balance of power and mind allows her to be stronger than all smart and smarter than all strong. Now Justine has nothing to blame herself: Serena is at the peak of her form, she performs at home, on fast hard. But still it’s a pity - if Justine won, this would to some extent mean the triumph of spirit over matter.
Ksenia VITRYAK