The most consistent player in women’s tennis this year?
No, it’s not World No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. It’s not reigning Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin or the Slam-record-chasing Serena Williams either. It’s a 24-year-old, pet-hoarding baseliner from Leuven, Belgium, of course.
The 18th-ranked Elise Mertens, who’s into her second consecutive US Open quarterfinal, has now won a WTA Tour-best 23 matches in 2020, though, to her, the shortened season has felt more like one long practice session interrupted only by the occasional tennis tournament.
But credit Mertens, who has four dogs and a variety of birds, including a pheasant and a peacock, as pets, for staying dialed in during the prolonged shutdown, and committing to the aggressive game plan put forth by boyfriend-coach Robbe Ceyssens. Mertens has been a Top 20 mainstay the past two years, reaching a career-high No. 12 and even reaching the Australian Open semifinals in 2018, but Ceyssens was convinced she had the stuff to go further.
The duo spent the better part of six months ramping up Mertens’ arsenal, with an emphasis on her first serve.
“It all starts with the serve,” said Ceyssens at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Tuesday. “If she has a good placement, she can be aggressive on the next shot, as well.”
“She grew up making all the balls and not missing,” added Ceyssens. “That's a little bit of her base. She gets a lot of balls back into the court, and in the past, she was maybe a bit too defensive.”
But, as Ceyssens knows, it’s one thing to put it all together on the practice court, and another to do it in tournament play. When the tour started again in August, Mertens played her way into the Prague final (where she lost to Simona Halep, 6-2, 7-5) and the Western & Southern Open semifinals (where she lost to Naomi Osaka, 6-2, 7-6).
“You never know how it’s going to translate into matches,” he said. “The way she’s competing and the way she’s mentally ready for every match and every opportunity to play her best game, I’m really pleased with that.”
Mertens had twice come up empty against Kenin in 2019. But the Belgian was a different player on Labor Day, when she straight-setted the No. 2 seed, 6-3, 6-3, at the US Open, moving on to the elite eight. She won 75 percent of her first serve points, which included eight aces. When the opportunity was right, she ventured into the net, too.
“I played pretty aggressive from the first ball on, which is really needed against her because she’s a great player. She can get a lot of balls back, she’s got great angles,” said Mertens. “ I tried to step into the court. My first serve was working too, so that’s a big advantage.”
She’ll most certainly need an effective serve game against her next opponent, two-time Slam champ Victoria Azarenka, who has long possessed one of the best returns in the sport.
“I think it’s going to be about Elise’s first serve,” observed Ceyssens. “If she can place it really well, she has a good chance of having the advantage in the rallies.”
“She’s on a winning streak,” said Mertens of Azarenka, who has won her last nine matches, including a title run at the Western & Southern Open. “It’s going to be very difficult to beat her. She’s very experienced. She’s trying to find solutions to my game; I'll try to find solutions to hers.”
