US Open: Serena Williams was happy to wait for once
It could have been a short day for Serena Williams at the US Open. But then came Andy Murray ...
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Sep 02, 2020, 04:04 pm
Williams was scheduled for the second match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday after Andy Murray's game against Yoshihito Nishioka. And Nishioka was already leading with 2-0 sets and a break in the third round. A score that generally means for the player scheduled afterwards: It’s about to start ...
Not so, however, when the previous player's name is Andy Murray. The Scot fended off a match point and won in the end with 4: 6, 4: 6, 7: 6 (5), 7: 6 (4) and 6: 4, after a proud 4 hours and 39 minutes of play.
So for Williams it was "Waiting for Godot", but in this case she didn't seem to mind. "If you wait for your game and someone leads 2-0, you keep your fingers crossed for whoever is leading. So that you can get on the pitch." But: "I thought Andy was the whole time, I really wanted him to win," said the 23-time major winner after her (victorious) match against Kristie Ahn.
Williams feels connected to Murray
Williams did not miss a special sign, namely that Murray gave a racket to string when he was mercilessly behind. "Then I saw how he gave his stick to his coach," said Williams. "This is Andy, so he's planning to play five sets."
Williams continued: "I love the way he grits his teeth. I've always loved that, even before we played doubles together," said Williams on the spectacular mixed at the 2019 Wimbledon tournament . "I always say: He reminds me a lot of myself. I'm just a big fan." She knows what it means to lie on the ground, to be injured, to be written off. "It was just a hard-fought win for him and I was really happy."