“It’s not easy to do that”.
Advertisement
The older McEnroe added: ” If things are going on in your personal life, for me it made it very hard to get that focus and intensity and will and all the other things you need to bring to the table – preparation, too – in order to play your best on the court. It’s a slightly different mentality to maybe when you’re younger and you feel like you have a bit more time on your side. Few expected Kerber to experience a career resurgence and play the best tennis she’s ever had as she approaches the age of 30, and nobody guessed Muguruza would have the resolve to take down Williams at the French Open.
Murray has played in all of the first three finals of the majors in 2016, losing to world number one Djokovic in Melbourne and Paris before defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets in the Wimbledon final.
But despite the ups and downs, Djokovic said the Wimbledon loss may work in his favour.
The Spaniard returned from the problem at the Olympics, winning a doubles gold medal at Rio 2016 and reaching the semifinals in singles.
“Even when my ball toss is going haywire I’m not panicking about it, I’m just taking it a point at a time and it seems to be working”. “If he’s playing here he must be feeling pretty good”.
“I haven’t played a single match in three weeks”.
Williams is in a strong quarter that also includes fifth seed Simona Halep of Romania and 16th-seeded Australian Sam Stosur, who beat the American in the 2011 U.S. Open final.
Djokovic and Murray appear to have pulled away from the traditional “big four” as Roger Federer continues to nurse a knee injury and Rafael Nadal is without a grand slam semi-final since 2014.
“I’m 29 and believe that I’m at a peak of my abilities as a tennis player”, said the Serb.
“At the end of the day I knew I gave the best effort I could, and it just wasn’t enough”, the 34-year-old told Yahoo Sports.
But she finally tied Steffi Graf’s Open Era record of 22 majors when she defeated Kerber in the final at Wimbledon.
Williams’ bid to retain her Olympic singles title ended in Rio de Janeiro this month when she was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by Elina Svitolina in the third round. “The shoulder is still not 100% but it’s very close and she will find a way”.
Also, American Sloane Stephens withdrew due to an injury to her right foot. 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. Seeded second in NY, she is one of three players with a chance to seize the number one ranking if Williams falters.
Advertisement
But the 19th-seeded Johnson could face the Olympic silver medalist in the second round. A fourth grand slam title at Flushing Meadows would also represent a significant power shift given only two months ago Djokovic held all four major titles.
