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Weighing up the upcoming ladies’ final between Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, Christopher Clarey, in the New York Times, called it “a disappointment for all sentimentalists who wanted one more all-Williams final on a major occasion, but which is frankly for the best.”
Recalling Kerber’s defeat of Serena in the Australian Open this year, Clarey added: “From Serena’s perspective, beating your sibling could never feel as good as beating that left-handed German upstart who absorbed your superior power and spoiled your evening back in January.”
The article featured comments from Serena’s coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who said “I feel the real Serena is back.” As for the prospect of equalling Steffi Graf’s mark of 22 Grand Slams by defeating another German player, Mouratoglou added: “We don’t think about that. It’s about winning a Slam, not about winning No.22. It’s about finding the real Serena again. That’s what’s important.”
The coach also featured in the Melbourne Age, where Linda Pearce reported his opinion that, in recent months, Serena had been acting on and off court “merely like a top player, not as the best”, but adding: “She’s ready, she’s back to herself.” Mouratoglou feels that the final “is not about revenge [for the Australian Open defeat], it’s just about being herself again, and if she is herself I know the result.”
Also in Australia, the Herald Sun revealed how Kerber plans to repeat her “ambush” of Williams in Melbourne, while Venus Williams’ coach, David Witt, was asked by the New York Times how much better Angelique would have to play against Serena than she did against Venus in the semi-finals.
“She definitely has to play better than that," said Witt. “You can’t give Serena one free point a game, much less two double faults, and expect to hold.”
Witt also featured in the Washington Post, saying of his player’s semi-final loss: “For the past one and a half weeks Venus looked once again like a player opponents need to be worried about. He called the loss to Kerber “a missed opportunity”, claiming: “I am sure she is not happy with her performance. I really don’t think Venus ever settled down in the match and felt comfortable.”
The Age is also getting upbeat about the progress of “exciting teenager” Alex De Minaur in the boys’ singles. Under the headline 'An Australian could win Wimbledon once more', it reported that his “fighting victory” in the quarter-finals over No.3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime “confirms De Minaur’s status as one of the stars of the future”.
The Toronto Star columnist Rosie Dimanno lamented that Canada’s Milos Raonic was being cast as a villain before his semi-final with Roger Federer. “It is the most ludicrous aspersion for a nice young man from Canada,” Dimanno wrote. “The Wimbledon crowds want one less Canadian who looms 6ft 5in large in the path of the adored, the revered and, at this point, the quasi-beatified Federer.
“Every rooter, near and far, wishes for Federer what he covets for himself - one more Grand Slam title, one more Wimbledon glory. So that casts Raonic into the role of spoiler, upstart, blackguard.”
