The No. 1 and No. 4 seeds, over the course of the last week, have sounded every bit as relaxed and confident in their interviews as they’ve looked on the court. Kerber says she’s playing “high class tennis,” she feels similar to the way she felt when she won the Australian Open in January, and she’s looking to “play my game, be aggressive.” Maybe saying it helps it come true, because more than ever before, this natural-born retriever has been taking the initiative in rallies.
In the process, Kerber has left her up-and-down form from the spring—in the eight tournaments she played between the Aussie Open and the grass season, she lost in the first round in five of them—far behind. After coming up with a running pass at match point to beat Venus Williams on Thursday and reach her first Wimbledon final, Kerber looked pleased, but not all that surprised. That’s how it goes when you don’t drop a set in six matches.
Never one to be outdone in word or deed, Serena has been sounding even more comfortable about her mindset and her game. She says she’s “at peace,” she knows that “mentally, no one can break me,” and after her blowout semifinal win over Elena Vesnina, she said, “I feel really dominant,” “I feel really confident,” and, “Yeah, I feel really good.” Serena says she has learned from her successes and her failures, which is a good sign. Accepting that, even for her, failure is a possibility, is the first step to avoiding it. After losing in the latter stages of three straight majors, Serena appears to be determined, but not overdetermined, not to let it happen again. Serena has something to prove again.
