Serena Williams stares down the future in US Open win over McNally

NEW YORK—Two nights prior, it had all been so familiar for Serena Williams. Williams had handily dispatched Maria Sharapova, 6-1, 6-1. Said Williams that evening, “her game really matches up well against mine. . . her ball somehow lands in my strike zone.”

For the better part of Wednesday evening’s match versus 17-year-old Caty McNally, the comfort of the strike zone gave way to the anguish of the twilight zone. Though in the end, Williams would earn a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 victory, for much of this match, McNally was the one who dictated the terms, repeatedly taking the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion into troubling territory. “She showed no fear,” Williams told the Ashe Stadium crowd after the match.

“Mrs. Fed” was the nickname US Fed Cup captain Kathy Rinaldi had given McNally several years ago, a tip of the hat to her tennis idol. McNally has closely studied and sought to emulate the Swiss maestro’s wide range of tactics and shots. “The big things are the way he carries himself on court,” said McNally. “Also the way he plays, he serves and volleys, looks to get to the net. He takes a lot of time away from his opponents. I really like the way he plays, mixes in the slice, the drop shot, volleys really well.” Said Williams, “You don't play players like her that have such full games.”

Much credit for McNally’s wide view goes to her two coaches. McNally’s mother, Lynn Nabors-McNally, lettered at Northwestern and has taught for many years in Cincinnati at the Club at Harper’s Point. In recent years, Team McNally has joined forces with Kevin O’Neill, a longstanding coach who has worked with many WTA players. Said McNally, “I think it's the right way to play, especially taking time away from your opponent. It's huge. Not everyone is just going to stay at the baseline and smack balls. That's not who I am. That's not who I'm trying to be. I'm trying to get into the net, end points at the net, take away time from my opponents.”

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“It was definitely something to get used to,” Williams said of the way McNally sought to apply pressure. If Federer was the role model, McNally’s execution also conjured up memories of the high-octane movement of Kim Clijsters, paired to the brazen attack of the young Boris Becker. Exhibit A: In the first set, Williams served at 30-15. McNally drove a backhand service return crosscourt deep to the Williams backhand, charged the net, then clipped a forehand volley crosscourt for a winner. Though Williams would win that game, McNally had put her opponent on notice.

Or maybe it was hardly personal. “I didn’t think who was on the other side of the net as much,” said McNally. “But I obviously I knew I was playing against the greatest of all time. I knew that I had to bring a certain level.”

Never was McNally’s youthful moxie more vividly on display than in the last three games of the first set. She’d held from 4-5, 30-30. Then she’d broken Williams at 15, only to go down love-40 when trying to serve out the set. A netted Williams backhand was followed by a 108 mph ace down the T. At 30-40, amazingly (or not?), McNally struck a drop shot. Hardly short enough to be a winner, it still elicited a netted Williams backhand. On her second set point, McNally cracked a 103 mph service winner down the T. “I felt really good out there on the big stage,” said McNally. “I wasn’t too nervous.”

“I had to stop making errors,” said Williams. “You can't win tournaments making that many errors. I knew I had to play better.”

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Even then, the significant plot twist came at 2-3, 15-all, when McNally double-faulted twice in a row and was broken for the first time in the match.

An empowered Williams gathered herself, took the second set on her fifth set point – and then immediately showed why she is the greatest women’s tennis player of all-time, winning 16 of the first 17 points of the third set. All of Williams’ skills surfaced, from the serve to the thundering groundstrokes to the personal level of intensity Williams has shown the world for 20 years, back to the days when she was the 17-year-old prodigy who won the 1999 US Open. The first two sets had lasted 93 minutes; the third, a swift 21, McNally winning just five points.

“I want to be able to win matches where I'm not playing my best, play players who are playing great, be able to come through. I need to be tested, I guess,” said Williams. But immediately, she added, “Actually, I'd rather not be tested in every match. But that doesn't happen, so it's important for me to have those, like, really rough, rowdy matches. That helps a lot.”

If for Williams, tonight was the familiar tale of the veteran somehow finding a way to survive and advance, for McNally it had been delightful research and development. McNally’s playing style is heavily predicated on robbing her opponents of time. But at 17, she also knows it will take time to further refine her game—technique, tactics, movement, fitness and more. The baseliners come out of the box, ready to go, batteries included. Such all-courters as Federer, Pete Sampras, Martina Navratilova take longer to blossom. But when they do, as Williams saw for ample portions this evening, watch out.

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