Great players tend to love Grand Slam semifinals.
Roger Federer is 11-1 in semis at Wimbledon, and Rafael Nadal is 11-0 in them at Roland Garros. On Centre Court, Serena Williams has been just as dominant in the final four. Coming into her match with Julia Goerges today, she hadn’t lost a Wimbledon semifinal since she went out to her sister Venus 18 years ago, when she was a teenager.
Serena and Federer and Nadal are also excellent in Slam finals, of course, but there’s a little less pressure at the semifinal stage, which allows them to play a little more freely—and brilliantly. In 2016, Serena ran roughshod over Elena Vesnina, 6-2, 6-0, in the Wimbledon semis, before edging Angelique Kerber in a tight two-set final.
While she didn’t end up beating Goerges quite as badly—the final scores were 6-2, 6-4—Serena played with similar semi-style calm on Thursday. She and Goerges began each set on fairly level terms, holding to 2-2. The German used her serve, and especially her forehand—by the fourth game, she had cracked six winners from that side—to hold her own with the American.
That is, until Serena decided that it was time to elevate.
In the first set, Serena made her subtle move with Goerges serving at 2-3, 30-30. On the next two points, Serena hit her forehand with more pace and better placement—the first one moved Goerges wide, the second pushed her back. Neither shot would officially be recorded as a winner, but both forced an error from Goerges. They also earned Serena the service break. Ten minutes later, she had won the set.
WATCH—Match point from Serena's win over Goerges in Wimbledon semis: