This has been a good year, not a banner year, for Serena Williams.
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Novak Djokovic’s coach Boris Becker admits the Serb’s supremacy is under threat from Andy Murray ahead of the start of the US Open.
Murray won the US Open in 2012 and goes into this year’s edition having reached the final of the last seven tournaments he has played in.
The two tennis titans met in the final of the Australian Open and French Open this year, so it’s a smart bet they’ll square off again in two weeks.
Williams equaled Steffi Graf’s 22 major singles titles at Wimbledon in July, but her injury was evident in her third-round loss at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Things haven’t been rosy since. “I don’t know how he’s feeling”, Murray said.
She then withdrew from her WTA title defence in Cincinnati, still struggling with painful shoulder inflammation.
“I think winning a tournament was probably a bit better but it’s just been a lot of matches in a row now”, Robson said.
“I have not played a lot, I haven’t practised a lot, but I’m just now starting to feel a little better”, the world number one told reporters after the draw for the year’s last grand slam tournament, which starts on Monday. As she enters the US Open, Williams is the hot favourite and thus poised to make history by going one up on Graf’s Open Era record. “That’s all I can do now”.
Williams is devastated when she is dealt a setback, such as last year’s loss to No. 43 Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals, a defeat that ended her bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam in more than 25 years.
Angelique Kerber is thrilled at the prospect of usurping Serena Williams to become world No 1 – but says she is trying her best not to think about it.
“I think she will feel so much less pressure than a year ago, also because she won Wimbledon and has at least tied Graf”, said Shriver. You think she’s not super quick, but she is.”Even with the injury concerns, Williams had a quiet confidence about her in the press”.
Williams will turn 35 next month while Djokovic is 29.
The Scotsman opens against Czech Lukas Rosol, has Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria or Feliciano Lopez of Spain as potential fourth-round foes with Japan’s sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori possibly waiting for him in the quarters.
While maintaining that her fitness was at a high level, the Olympics was tough on Williams. She’s not intimidated, ” Williams said.
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“Before Wimbledon it was like, just hand the trophy to Djokovic, but now it’s shifted ever so fractionally and that’s what makes it so exciting, because, if Murray wins, that’s two majors apiece this year, which hasn’t happened in a long while, and there could be a real shift of the guard happening”. Despite everything that she has won and done, her sense of self can still fluctuate based on the outcome of a particular match. “And because of how well he played on clay, now he has a chance to take over No 1”.
