Serena avoids "trap match" Witthoeft to set up "The Match" with Venus

Stories of the Open Era, Serena and Venus Williams:

NEW YORK—In many places, it takes a lot to rouse a tennis crowd. In New York, the opposite is true: It takes a lot to keep a night-session crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium quiet, especially when Serena Williams is playing.

On Wednesday night, there was the usual hum of voices from the luxury suites, and there was a chatty fan in the nosebleeds who needed to be shushed by the chair umpire every few games. But Serena’s 6-2, 6-2 win over Carina Witthoeft, which took just 67 minutes, wasn’t the type of contest that was going to bring an audience, even this audience, to its feet very often.

That’s because it was really no contest at all. Serena hit 13 aces and 30 winners to Witthoeft’s 10. She won 66 points to Witthoeft’s 42. And few of those points were competitive. Whether she was serving or returning, Serena snuffed most of the rallies out with rapid, ruthless efficiency. Of the 108 points played, 88 of them were over in four shots or less. Serena won 55 of those.

“I was happy with everything,” Serena said. “Just to get through it.”

(Photo by Anita Aguilar)

Like everyone else, Serena understood that this match was just a way to get to The Match, the third-rounder with her sister Venus that everyone had circled on their draws last week, and that no one has stopped talking about since. Judging by this result, Serena wasn’t looking ahead, and there was never a danger that this was going to turn into a trap match. It was obvious from the start that Witthoeft, who had her left knee taped, didn’t have the ground-stroke power or the scrambling speed to trouble Serena. She didn’t have the serve, either; Witthoeft double faulted six times.

There’a only so much to take away from this match and apply to Serena’s next one; Venus obviously does have the ground-stroke power, and the scrambling speed—not to mention the serve—to trouble her sister.

But Serena should be pleased with her forehand return, which she bulleted for half a dozen winners, both crosscourt and down the line, and which she used to convert on five of six break points. More important, Serena should be happy with her serve, which will be essential against Venus. On Wednesday, it was clicking to the tune of 13 aces and 77 percent of first-serve points won. At 3-2 in the first set and 4-2 in the second set, Serena faced four break points; she saved them with three aces and a service winner. Finally, she capped her evening with an exclamation point: A 121-m.p.h. ace to hold for 5-2.

With that, Serena drew a roar from the crowd, and gathered her last bit of momentum for The Match on Friday night. Based on that serve, and this victory, the wind is at Serena’s back.

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