From the hype beforehand to Serena Williams’ celebration afterwards, her clash with young frenemy Sloane Stephens felt less like a fourth-round U.S. Open match and more like a semifinal. But Williams’ play during the match? That was championship-worthy, earning a 6-4, 6-1 win in the most-anticipated women’s match of this year’s tournament.
Rightly or wrongly, Williams had been cast as a mentor and friend to the 20-year-old Stephens. But when she came into the Australian Open quarterfinals in January hobbling, she was unexpectedly beaten by Stephens, then saw the young American paint her in a story in “ESPN the Magazine” as unfriendly, unhelpful and prone to mind games.
Yesterday, Williams, a 16-time Grand Slam champion, didn’t need any mind games. Her own game — a booming serve and brilliant defense — were more than enough. In the end, Williams held off a foe she called the future of American tennis and won a match she acknowledged felt like more than a fourth-round meeting.
“The quality of the tennis was great. Sloane’s a great player. So I think it definitely felt like that,’’ said Williams, who gave a scream, a fist pump and a pirouette after match point. “At at the end of the day it was a fourth round match … [but] it definitely had feelings more of a quarterfinal or a semifinal match.
“I definitely think it was a high-quality match. I don’t think either of us had an overwhelming amount of unforced errors. I think we both came out to play.’’
Both were focused from the start. Stephens — 15-4 in majors this year, but just 17-15 in regular WTA events — has shown a penchant for coming up big in big spots despite her tender age, and the match was tied 4-all in the first set. But that’s when Williams seized the momentum, and, ultimately, the match.
Williams played like a champion detecting a legitimate challenger, and unwilling to relinquish her title. Still, asked what her 15th-ranked rival has to do to reach an elite contending level, Williams’ answer was succinct: Nothing.
“I don’t think she has to work on anything. I think she is at the next level,’’ said Williams, who has been effusive in her praise of Stephens since that ESPN story. “She’s beaten me, she’s beaten other players, so she’s there. She’s playing really well.’’
Williams broke Stephens to go up 4-2, only to see Stephens break back. But after Williams went up 5-4, Stephens was serving and couldn’t take advantage. She committed six of her 29 unforced errors, and after fighting off a pair of set points for Williams, the defending champ finally closed out the set and took eight of the last nine games.
“Obviously she’s No. 1 in the world for a reason,” Stephens said. “I thought she played really well herself. Obviously it didn’t go how I wanted. The second set got away from me a bit.“Like I said, she’s No. 1 in the world for a reason. All in all, I thought she played great.’’
Since that ESPN article, Stephens has coolly referred to Williams merely as a “coworker.’’ Yesterday, Williams’ superior defense and cleaner game reminded Stephens exactly what she needs to work on.
Williams rolled into a date against 18th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro, who upset No. 8 seed Angelique Kerber, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
“It’s definitely difficult playing people that you like, that you always want to see do well. But you have to go out there and kind of put that to the side and realize I want to do well myself,’’ said Williams, who had a brief word for Stephens at the net after match point. “I just said, ‘Good job.’ ’’