Serena Williams ends nine-month title drought at Italian Open.
Sounds great for a headline, does it not? Makes it seem like an ageing superstar, pushing back a marauding horde of younger and fitter rivals, has finally managed to turn back the clock.
Nine months. That is an awfully long drought, by Williams’s standards. But fact is, she has played only five tournaments since her triumph in Cincinnati last August – last year’s US Open and four tournaments this year – and has reached the final in three of them. In any case, winning one in five is not really such a bad return for someone who will be celebrating her 35th birthday in September.
The Italian Open was her first clay-court event since Bastad last July, and she barely showed any rust, winning all her five matches in straight sets with only two of her 12 sets in Rome going to tiebreaks. The opponent she beat in the final, Madison Keys, was just over six months old when Williams made her first appearance on the tour in October, 1995.
See also:
• Serena Williams secures career title No 70 by beating Madison Keys in straight sets at Italian Open
• Martin Navratilova: Serena Williams 'still the queen' but 'gap has got smaller'
In one week then, Williams has managed to turn the narrative around and debunk all those myths about the rise of the contenders and her impending fall from the rankings. In just one clay-court tournament, she has earned more points (900) than what her closest rivals have managed this European clay-court season.
Agnieszka Radwanska, the world No 2, has earned 195 points playing Stuttgart and Madrid; No 3 Angelique Kerber, who stunned Williams in the Australian Open final, did not win a match in either Madrid or Rome and has 481 points from three tournaments.
Garbine Muguruza, world No 4, has played three tournaments and earned 515 points. No 5 Victoria Azarenka, who beat Williams in the Indian Wells final, has lost her last two matches on clay courts and has earned 121 points from two events, while Petra Kvitova, No 12, has earned 306 points from three tournaments.
Only Simona Halep has made more points (1,002) than Williams this clay-court season, thanks to the 1,000 points she earned for her Madrid triumph, but the Romanian left Stuttgart and Rome without winning a match.
Given those numbers, can anyone dare anoint any other player than Williams as favourite for the French Open title? True, she has not done well as defending champion in Paris, but there is no other player on the WTA Tour worthy of that tag.
And by the way, Flavia Pennetta, who retired after the end of last season, is back in the top 10, and that speaks volumes about all those contenders to Williams’s throne.
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