The rain has forced Serena Williams indoors for practice on Wednesday, relegated to the covered courts of the Chase Center on the sprawling grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. In a few hours, she’ll face an unknown entity in 17-year-old Caty McNally, a crafty, young challenger from America’s heartland, who’ll throw everything at her but the kitchen sink.
She needs to get her work in.
With her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, and her Yorkshire Terrier, Chip, watching courtside, Williams is working on her return game. Jarmere Jenkins fires one serve after another at the soon-to-be 38-year-old, who promptly sends each ball back at her hitting partner’s feet, into the corners. The ball-to-racquet THWAAACK is a little louder here, echoing off the walls. This is a warm-up routine Williams has been carrying out since she made her debut in Flushing Meadows in 1998, like McNally, a 17-year-old, cornrowed and more determined than we could possibly have comprehended.
Since claiming her first Grand Slam title here in 1999, she’s experienced a hunter-to-hunted transformation, a prized target for Slam wannabes. McNally, serving-and-volleying, chipping-and-charging, taking time away from her Hall of Fame-bound opponent, would push that evening’s festivities to three sets. (“I got a set off Serena Williams!” the Ohioan exclaimed.) But as she so often does, Williams found a way to dig herself out of trouble; her experience, her inner-drive, helping her turn things around in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 second-round triumph. Her ability to gather herself mid-match, to troubleshoot on the fly, is an intangible that’s long been just as important as her speed, her groundstrokes, her once-in-a-generation athleticism.
“I definitely treasure it because it's important to have,” she tells reporters that night, after booking a head-to-head with Czech Karolina Muchova in the third round. “I've won so many Grand Slams because of it.
Six of her 23 majors have come in New York, a number equaled in the Open era only by Chris Evert. Three of those came in succession during a dominant run between 2012 and 2014. Williams, who became a working mom in September 2017, now stands one Slam trophy away from Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24. Winless in her last three finals at the sport’s big four events, she knows it’ll take some work to get there, that she’s on the clock. (Evert opined that the 2019 US Open and 2020 Australian Open might be her last shots at the record book.) But she’s never been afraid to put in the work.
Back at the Chase Center, the rain still falling outside, Jenkins smacks one last serve toward his charge. But Williams isn’t done yet. There’ll be time to rest later. She wants more.
USOpen.org looks back at Serena Williams’ six US Open titles:
1999: Williams def. Martina Hingis, 6-3, 7-6
- Everyone assumed Venus would be the first Williams to win a Grand Slam trophy. But li’l sis Serena beats her to the punch in ’99, a Puma cat on her chest and beads in her hair. Facing five-time Slam champ Martina Hingis, Williams officially introduces herself to the tennis world, dispatching the Swiss Miss in straight sets and backing her father Richard’s claims that it was she who had the most on-court skills in the family. Just 17 and the first black woman to claim the title since Althea Gibson in 1958, Williams gets yet another thrill after raising the trophy in Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I thought for sure my day couldn't get any better,” she says. “Next thing I knew, someone was telling me, ‘The President of the United States wants to talk.’ I was thinking, ‘Wow!’”
2002: Williams def. Venus Williams, 6-4, 6-3
- Serena avenges her loss to Venus in the groundbreaking 2001 final, the first to be broadcast in primetime (to 22.7 million viewers), with a straight-sets decision. It marks her first major title as the world No. 1. “I'm just happy to win here again. It's been a long time since 1999. Almost nearly forgot how it felt,” says Serena, who pushes the fashion envelope by sporting a skin-tight catsuit. “But the difference is I'm a bit more mature, and I'm more relaxed. I'm a better player, obviously. I just have more fun with what I do. I'm not as stressed out there as I used to be.” She’s well on her way to the Serena Slam.
2008: Williams def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-4, 7-5
- Ending a dry spell of sorts, Williams returns to the winner’s circle in Flushing Meadows, nine years after her first US Open title and six years after her second. She edges Venus in the quarters, 7-6, 7-6, and Jankovic in the final, 6-4, 7-5, to claim the title without dropping a set. “It wasn’t good enough, especially playing Serena,” asserts Jankovic, appearing in her first Grand Slam final. “You know that you have to be at the top of your level because she's a lot more powerful than many of the players. She has all the strength. She's a great athlete.”
2012: Williams def. Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5
- Dropping just 19 games through the first six rounds, Serena shows she is still the one to beat. Her first real test comes against Belarusian baseliner Vika in the title match. Williams reels off the last four games of the match to seal the first three-set women’s final since 1995. “She's definitely the toughest player, mentally, there is,” says Azarenka. “Being so close, it hurts deeply to know you don't have it. You're close, you didn't get it. But I have no regrets. I felt like I gave it all.”
2013: Williams def. Victoria Azarenka, 7-5, 6-7, 6-1
- It a rematch of the ’12 final, 32-year-old Serena prevails in yet another three-setter, becoming the oldest player in the Open era to take the women’s crown. It’s her fifth title in New York, though, as we would soon learn she was anything but done. “I feel great. I’ve never felt better. I feel really fit. I haven't felt like this in a number of years. I'm excited about the possibilities.”
2014: Williams def. Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-3
- It’s a matchup between good buddies, pals Caro and Serena. But Williams is all business between the lines. The only one of the top eight seeds to reach the quarterfinals, Williams goes on to dismiss the Dane for her third consecutive US Open title in Queens. It’s her sixth triumph in New York, tying her with Chris Evert, and her 18th major title overall, putting her side by side with Evert and Martina Navratilova. “It means a lot to me,” says Williams. “I could never have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet. Living in Compton [Calif.], this never happened before.”
