Has the No.1 jinx already transferred to Serena Williams? Just one round after securing to be ranked No.1 in the next week’s rankings the American lost to Nadia Petrova 6-4 3-6 7-6(5).
The 13th-seeded Petrova and second-seeded Williams each won a set of their third-round match and in the decider they both held serve until tiebreak, having each faced only one break point in that final set. Petrova raced to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreak and although Williams showed resistance the Russian managed to close it out.
Before this encounter, Petrova had defeated Williams only once in their seven previous meetings. (photo courtesy of Women Who Serve)
It is not surprising that Serena went out early since she never puts much effort into non-major tournaments. And it is really interesting that she only did as much as she had to in order to regain no 1.
Sun Mill-Scout, you think she was that unmotivated?
i thought it was a great match. i think serena’s motivation wasnt there either, and i agree, it seems she turns it down a few in outside of tournaments. eg; medibank international, she has about 10 match points against her, and eventually lost, but in the australian open (1 week later) she totally dominated!
Serena’s saving it for Doha – she’s playing singles and doubles this year, and she plans on winning both of them. She wants to end the year as no.1 and gave up enough of a fight today to prove that she was ‘trying’.
It’s a classic from Serena, just doing as little as possible to achieve good results. And she says she earned it?! Are U kidding? To be honest I’d rather see Safina on no.1 post, she was actually making effort not only when it came to slams where one can earn enough points to get an easy pass to no.1 spot. Justine is needed so badly on the tour!
Justine can’t handle pressure and fear, we have seen that on so many occasions. She chokes more than Safina. Of course Serena has tried hard, shes won 2/4 grandslams and holds the most on the womens tour.
I don’t think Justine is a choker. How else could she have won so many titles.
Justine a choker? Excuse me? She was able to handle a lot of pressure in her matches, she has great stamina, probably one of the best on the tour right now. What I like about her is that she allows her opponent to concentrate and play instead of trying to distract them with annoying grunts.
I dont think players grunt to annoy people.. that idea is silly
It is not silly at all! Grunting is annoying and it can distract. Interestingly, those who claim that they cant control the grunt at the time of intense match remained surprisingly quiet. Why would that be… maybe to help their concentration?! Oh, yes.