NEW YORK—Serena Williams’ forehand missed the mark, and suddenly the baseline became a balance beam as she stood solely on her right leg and waved her arms in the air as if admonishing the shot for straying off target.
On a day in which Spanish spin doctor Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez offered an unsettling attack, Serena endured a brief second-set stumble, but regained her footing to tame a tricky opponent, 6-2, 6-4, and reach the third round of the U.S. Open for the 13th time.
The match was not as straightforward as the scoreline suggests—Williams trailed 2-0 in the second set and saved two break points to prevent a fall into a double-break hole—but then again, “routine” seldom applies when facing funk master Martinez Sanchez, who makes the hyphenated play common place in dishing out the serve-and-volley, chip-and-charge, and even the drop-and-lob combo-platter. The Wimbledon champion’s degree of difficulty was ratcheted up even further as she rolled her left ankle in doubles play on Wednesday (try chasing down droppers on a gimpy ankle) and when confronting Martinez Sanchez’s devious lefty spin that sometimes dive-bombed into Williams’ hip.
Newlywed Martinez Sanchez had a rocky relationship with her serve in the opener, serving just 36 percent and double-faulting twice to hand Williams the break at love and a 3-1 lead. The Olympic gold medalist strung together 12 straight points, slamming down a love hold with her second two-ace game to take a 4-1 lead 13 minutes into the match. Short-term memory loss is a prerequisite for tennis success, but you get the feeling Serena has total recall when it comes to Martinez Sanchez. More than three years have passed since their controversial clash at the French Open whenWilliams called out her opponent** for "cheating" after Martinez Sanchez denied a Serena shot struck her.
The 108th-ranked Spaniard can be a disorientating opponent because she’ll often block no-pace forehands short in the court, only to hammer her two-handed backhand—her stronger wing—or attack net behind a drop shot. Williams wasn’t as quick off the mark in the seventh game and dumped two double faults as she fought off four break points before eventually holding with her sixth ace for a 5-2 advantage. Realizing she had to take the ball above the height of the net, Williams pushed Martinez Sanchez wide with a backhand, then cracked a forehand winner cross-court to seize the first set in 34 minutes.
Serena clanked her fourth double fault to drop serve at the start of the second set as Martinez Sanchez won eight of the first nine points, then had double-break point in the third game. Williams held firm, then broke courtesy of another double fault for 2-2. Sanchez Martinez dug out of a triple-break point to hold for 3-3, but Serena reeled off eight of the last 10 points to complete a one-hour, 22-minute win. It was her 38th victory in her last 40 matches and continued an impressive year-long roll: Since the start of the 2011 U.S. Open Series, the 14-time Grand Slam champion has posted a 66-5 record.
