Serena Williams’s grand-slam woes continued on Saturday night as she was beaten in the US Open final for the second successive year. And once again her conqueror was a fearless young thruster from the next generation.
After Naomi Osaka outplayed Williams last year on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was the turn of 19-year-old Bianca Andreescu on Saturday, who produced a near-flawless performance and lived up to Williams’s description of her as an “old soul”.
The main difference was that this remained a tennis match, rather than a psychological drama. Williams’s tennis might have faltered under the huge pressure she faced from an inspired Andreescu, but she never threatened to repeat last year’s run-in with chair umpire Carlos Ramos. There was no controversy – just one of the most phenomenal and complete displays from a newcomer that this sport has ever seen.
Remember that Andreescu has never played in the main draw of the US Open before. She did turn up for qualifying last year, as a promising 18-year-old ranked No 208 in the world, but she lost in the first round to an even younger opponent, Olga Danilovic. Not even her own parents would have picked her then to lift the 2019 trophy
Be the first to comment