Serena Williams demonstrated that having a baby had not robbed her of any of her phenomenal tennis skills when she became the first mother in 38 years to reach the Wimbledon final, with a 6-2 6-4 demolition of Germanyโs Julia Goerges on Thursday.
Goerges had come into her first Grand Slam semi-final having belted more winners (199), more aces (44) and more unreturned serves (113) than anyone else in the womenโs draw but those statistics counted for little when she came up against an opponent who is in hot pursuit of a record-equalling 24th major.
Remarkably, the 36-year-old was back in a Grand Slam final just 10 months after giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia.
โItโs crazy. I donโt even know how to feel because I literally didnโt think Iโd do this well in my fourth tournament back in 16 months,โ said the American, who won the 2017 Australian Open while in the early stages of her pregnancy.
โWhen I donโt have anything to lose, I can just play so free and thatโs what Iโm doing.
โThis is not inevitable for me, I had a really tough delivery and multiple surgeries and almost didnโt make it to be honest. I couldnโt even walk to my mailbox, so itโs definitely not normal for me to be in a Wimbledon final.
โIโm enjoying every moment.โ
That enjoyment was clear to see as she dashed Goergesโs hopes of setting up an all-German final with Angelique Kerber in 70 unforgiving minutes.
The 13th seed had never taken a set off Williams in three previous meetings and unfortunately for her, the American was once again at her dominant best on Thursday as she bludgeoned down five aces and 16 winners to finish off Goerges.
In each set Goerges was broken in the sixth game and she simply did not have the firepower or belief to stop the seven-times champion from surging to a 20th successive win on the hallowed turf.
Williams was back giving the crowd a one-arm raised victory twirl after reaching a 10th Wimbledon final when her opponent swiped a lob behind the baseline.
At 181st in the world, Williams is the lowest ranked player to reach the womenโs final but that number will fool no one, and especially not Kerber who was runner-up to the American in the 2016 final.
