At changeovers in her French Open semifinal, an ill Serena Williams walked ever so slowly to the sideline, where even lowering herself to sit seemed difficult. With the temperature nearing 85 degrees (30 Celsius), she pressed white towels filled with ice against her forehead and neck and guzzled water. Early on, her play was as poor as her health. She failed to chase balls she normally would. As telling as anything: On those occasions when she did win points, Williams mostly refrained from her familiar fist pumps and yells of “Come on!”
Never can count her out, though, no matter the circumstances. Down a set and a break Thursday, and clearly not herself, Williams summoned the resolve to reach the final by beating Timea Bacsinszky 4-6, 6-3, 6-0. After getting broken to fall behind 3-2 in the second set, Williams claimed the final 10 games. She had a 12-2 edge in winners in the final set.
“Stunning,” said Williams’ coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. “This is the difference between champions and everyone else. There is no logical explanation.” Mouratoglou said the No. 1-ranked Williams has been dealing for several days with the flu, including a fever and difficulty breathing.
Williams skipped her news conference — something sister Venus did after losing last week, drawing a $3,000 fine — and issued a statement reading: “I have been feeling unwell for a few days, and ... I needed to see the tournament doctor.” she said. Now one victory from her third French Open championship and 20th major title in all, Williams faces lucie Safarova.
‘COllAPSED AFTER SF’
Serena Williams says she “just kind of collapsed” after winning her French Open semifinal and has been resting at her apartment for Saturday’s final. Before facing lucie Safarova with a chance for a third title at Roland Garros and 20th Grand Slam singles trophy overall, Williams didn’t practice on Friday, and she didn’t do a pre-final news conference, either.
Instead, she issued a statement in a question-and-answer format that was distributed by the tournament. “I started to feel unwell around the third or fourth round,” Williams’ statement begins, “and I felt really terrible during the semis” on Thursday, when she came back to beat Bacsinszky after dropping the first set. “I’m actually not sure how I got through the match, and when it was over, I just kind of collapsed.’’
The statement continues: “I think I have some kind of flu, which makes it tough, because it’s just a matter of resting and keeping hydrated — there’s not much else I can do. I’ve felt really cold so I’m just fighting that.”