Wimbledon: I can't see Angelique Kerber defeating the godmother Serena Williams
American should be too strong for German in final
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Your support makes all the difference.I think of Serena Williams as the godmother of women’s tennis. If she wants something, she usually gets it. And boy, how she wants that 22nd Grand Slam singles title to equal Steffi Graf’s Open era record.
Serena has been stuck on 21 ever since she won the title at Wimbledon last summer, but I expect her wait to end on Centre Court on Saturday. Angelique Kerber beat her in the final of the Australian Open earlier this year and is likely to push hard again, but I don’t think she can deny the godmother.
Grass gives Serena a bit of an advantage, but I think more than anything she believes that this is her time. After going so close at the US, Australian and French Opens, she’ll be absolutely determined not to slip up again.
I think Patrick Mouratoglou, her coach, will tell her to go out and be herself. Angelique has many fine qualities, but if Serena plays the way that she can, the match will be on her racket. She needs to go for it and control the match. That’s what she’s done ever since her father started teaching her the game when she was just a kid.
Sure, it’s good to mix things up every once in a while, but for the most part I would encourage Serena to play her normal game. Holy smoke, look at the way she bullied Elena Vesnina in the semi-finals. The Russian won only five points in the second set as Serena barely gave her a chance to breathe.
If the match isn’t going well maybe Serena will need to think about changing things, but her first thought must be to go out there and play the way that she knows best. When her serve is going well, she doesn’t need to fear anybody. Angelique, meanwhile, can be particularly vulnerable on her second serve.
Having said all that, I don’t think the result is a foregone conclusion by any means. Nerves in particular can be a factor. No matter who you are and no matter how many Grand Slam finals you’ve played, there’s no occasion quite like a Wimbledon final. If Angelique settles more quickly than Serena, I could certainly see her going on to win.
In the Melbourne final Angelique went toe-to-toe with Serena. If she’s on her game, she can cause trouble. I like the way she takes the ball early and hits it without too much spin. She has very good ground strokes, hits some great drop shots and moves beautifully. I tell you, baby, she gets to some balls that I wouldn’t expect a greyhound to reach.
Being a lefty can also help her. Lefties can slap the ball a lot better than righties. Serena will need to avoid getting into cross-court rallies with her. She will need to keep Angelique moving.
Serena will know what she has to do. And if she can carry it out, I think it will be the godmother’s time again.
Coaching report
Milos Raonic has been knocking on the door for a few years now and the big Canadian finally decided that the best way through was just to smash it down. John McEnroe told him to leave everything out there in his semi-final against Roger Federer - and that’s just what he did. McEnroe’s influence was clear: Raonic is coming into the net more often, volleying with greater confidence and keeping a lot more balls in play than he used to.
Man, he even looks like he’s enjoying it out there. In the past it was hard to know what the big man was thinking on the court, but I like the way he is expressing his emotions more. Holy cow, I even saw some smiles out there.
As for Federer, I thought his legs gave out towards the end as two successive five-set matches took their toll. He made an unbelievable effort, but in the end the years caught up with him. Those two successive double faults at the end of the fourth set were evidence of his tiredness. When you’re serving, a lot of the power comes from your legs. I fear the great man just ran out of gas.
Raonic, nevertheless, will have his work cut out in the final. Andy Murray was outstanding in his semi-final win over Tomas Berdych. His movement was sensational and he kept getting back almost everything that Berdych could throw at him. I can’t help thinking that Murray will get more balls back against Raonic than Federer was able to.
My tip of the day
Each day this week I’m giving you a little tip on how to improve your own game. You’ll find plenty more like this on my website, www.nickbollettieri.com.
Today’s tip: How to get your heart pumping. Here’s one of my favourite drills if you’re looking to step up your cardio-vascular work. The competitive edge will make it feel like it’s not just hard work. Go behind the baseline and hit the ball 100 times down the middle to your hitting partner, who should take the same position on the other side of the net. No winners and no balls out wide: in either of those cases, your hitting partner wins. Then do the same 100 times cross-court, with no winners again. To spice it up, how about if the loser has to buy dinner?
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