Wimbledon 2018: Angelique Kerber’s best chance of preventing Serena Williams from making history is her own serve
Williams has the most powerful serve out there, but it will be Kerber’s that will prove crucial if she’s to have any hope of preventing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam victory
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Your support makes all the difference.At the start of the fortnight I said here that Serena Williams was the player to beat, even if none of us could be sure how she was going to perform given her lack of matches and the pectoral muscle injury that had affected her preparations.
Baby, how she has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Her victory over Julia Goerges in the semi-finals proved that she is back in the groove, particularly with that devastating serve of hers. I find it hard to see how Angelique Kerber is going to beat her in Saturday’s final.
I think the key for Angelique will be to serve well, particularly when she’s hitting those leftie serves to the ad court. If Angelique struggles on serve, Serena will put huge pressure on her with her returns.
Angelique controls her emotions well, moves beautifully and is a very consistent ball-striker, but she just has to keep holding her serve. She returns well, but if Serena keeps serving the way she has, she will have very few opportunities to break.
Serena’s not all about the serve. She’s been hitting her ground strokes well and I’ve particularly liked the way she uses the angles. When she sees an opponent retreating behind the baseline she loves to drive them out wide. That can give her an opportunity to come forward. Generally she prefers to come in only on her own terms.
Let’s not forget, too, what a team effort it has been to put Serena on the brink of equalling Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles title.
The love of her mother, the support of her sisters, especially Venus, and the brilliant guidance of her father – whose ideas were sometimes derided as crazy – have all been crucial. I shall always be grateful to Richard Williams for inviting me to be a part of his girls’ coaching team in their early days in particular.
In recent years Patrick Mouratoglou has been a brilliant coach for Serena and I also take my hat off to her agent, Jill Smoller, who has done a great job taking care of her. In my 60-plus years in this sport I know that behind every champion there has to be a great team.
Coaching report: The scoreboard said that Kevin Anderson won the first men’s semi-final, but I think everyone would agree that both men were winners. Holy mackerel, what a match.
In the end Anderson’s conditioning was crucial. It was clear towards the end of the fifth set that Isner was tiring, but Anderson remained strong. I certainly think there needs to be discussion about whether fifth sets at Wimbledon should end in tie-breaks, as they do at the US Open.
How about that left-handed forehand that Anderson hit when he broke serve for the last time? For that you have to give credit to his father, who taught him to hit those shots when he was a kid.
This match was a great advert for college tennis, because both men came though that system. I’m always telling juniors that playing college tennis is a great option. Very few players get the chance to make a living on the tour, so it’s a great thing to have a good education as a back-up.
What the best players have taught me: Every day I’ve been recalling some of the things I’ve learned from the great players I’ve worked with over the years at the IMG Academy I founded in Florida.
Max Mirnyi came to the IMG Academy with his father, Nikolai, when he was just 13. He’s still there and still competing at a very high level. He’s won 52 doubles titles in his career and is still No 36 in the world.
The big man taught me that no matter how good and how famous you are, you can still spend time helping others. Over the years Max has been brilliant with the juniors at the academy. He always takes time to listen to what they have to say and to help them, whether it’s on or off the court.
And what I can teach you: I know that the volley is a shot that a lot of club players – not to mention some pros – find difficult. However, there are ways in which you can cut out your mistakes.
Firstly, add a margin for error when you’re trying to place a volley. Don’t go for the lines all the time. It’s better to win a point with two good volleys rather than attempt to win it with one great one.
It can also pay to limit the swing on your volleys. Instead, you might benefit from thinking of the shot as a defensive block. Go for the open court, but again leave yourself a margin for error.
It’s also good to get down low in readiness to lunge for the ball because your opponent will usually be trying to hit it away from you rather than at you.
Read all about it: I’ve spent many hours in recent months working on a new book which will be my personal account of what I’ve learned in a lifetime of coaching tennis. The Professional Tennis Registry will be publishing the book later in the summer. You can find out how to buy it at www.ptrtennis.org.
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