Very disappointed in Serena's loss today. She was nearly flawless in the first set. She measured everything perfectly. Barely missed. Lost 3 points on serve, 2 of which were double faults. BUT, the is one caveat to the first set -- Vika was clearly not playing well. Serena was allowed to play that well. Vika just wasn't there yet. Her serve was too easy for Serena to deal with. Honestly, I feel like Vika really just set the whole set up with her first game. She came out and her game wasn't clicking in that first game, but then she got down on herself after that game and that affected her the rest of the set. But, she always does so well of putting one bad set behind her. So, the second set was a new set in her mind. BUT, she still shouldn't have won. Serena was still playing some good tennis in the second set. But she was no longer allowed to have all day to measure her shots and strike the ball absolutely perfectly as she was in the first. That would have been ok if she had her serve. But she didn't. Her first serve percentage was just terrible. In the first set, it was like 58%, but that 58% were all very well placed serves. She wasn't going for broke and Vika was playing so poorly that Serena didn't have to. In the second and third sets though, she needed that serve and her abdominal strain or whatever kept her from having it I think. Someone above said that it hasn't been the same since Wimbledon, and I would agree. But, I would say it's been better than it was today. Vika of course is a great returner, but I don't think that scared Serena. I just think her abdominal strain that she had taped up under her shirt, kept her from being able to serve, because you really need your core to be able to serve well.
Vika played really great in the second two sets, but I do think Serena would have won the match rather easily if she wasn't injured, though she's only mildly injured. Vika is able to beat Serena more than anyone on tour. Vika was better than Serena today, by the smallest of margins, but definitely in the final two sets, so she deserved to win. But I do think it was only because of the injury. But, at the same time, I refuse to completely say she was totally unable to play because of the injury, because that clearly isn't the case. But, her serve is a significant part of her game and without it, she is certainly more vulnerable.
I say ALL of this to say that I'm not worried any more now than I was yesterday about Serena winning the US Open. Well... that's not true. If this injury doesn't heal, then I'm a little more worried. But Vika is always going to be dangerous, but she's got to get to Serena first. And since she will indeed be on the other half of the draw, she'll have to make the final to beat Serena, who of course, will have to make the final herself, but I would say we all can agree Serena is more likely to make the final than Vika.
