The Dark Horses : Who can upset Serena Williams at the US Open 2015?
Roger Federer and Serena Williams are chasing their 18th and 22nd Grand Slam respectively. Their US Open outing gained even more prominence as soon as the Draws were announced.
A close analysis of the Women’s Draw by experts showed that Serena William’s had a tough draw that was laden with potential land mines. Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys, Karolina Pliskova, Belinda Bencic, Agnieszka Radwanska and Venus Williams featured in Serena’s Quarter. Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Heather Watson and Eugenie Bouchard were the other potential hurdles who were in the same half as Serena.
However what was intriguing is that these landmines went off even before the Great Williams stepped on them. The opening day of the US Open made headlines for two big reasons. One, a host of top Women Seeds dropped like flies. Two, Coco Vandewegh, while playing against Sloane Stephens, did a mid-match interview with Pam Shriver that drew cheers and jeers from the tennis fraternity.
While Serena, calling herself ‘Old School’, did not concur on the idea of mid-match interviews she probably heaved a sigh of relief about one of her potential challenger, Sloane Stephens, exiting early. Apart from Stephens the other top seeds who exited were Ana Ivanovic, Karolina Pliskova, Jelena Jankovic and Heather Watson. Maria Sharapova’s campaign ended even before it started as she pulled out due to a right leg injury just 18 hours before Day 1 commenced.
Overnight, the balance tipped in favor of a slew of dark horses. While one school of thought may suggest that Serena’s road to Grand Slam 22 may be less treacherous, there is another that hints at the road being tougher than before. More often than not Serena has found a lower ranked player dicier than a top 10 player.
Women’s tennis is unpredictable to such an extent that the line between favorites and dark horses it eerily thin. With the entire narrative revolving around Serena Williams and the impending history she is capable of creating, this edition of the US Open does have some dark horses in the draw.
#5 Angelique Kerber
With her seventh WTA title haul at Stanford this year, Angelique Kerber ties Serena Williams for most number of WTA titles in 2015. This still does not make her a favorite at the US Open as she is seeded out of the top 10 players.
Kerber’s best performance at the US Open was a Semi-Final appearance in 2011. With a 1-5 Head to Head against Serena, this lefty employs her signature counter punch tennis and grit to down top players on almost every surface. Kerber’s swinging forehand is one of the best on the Women’s circuit. She also has the reputation of winning matches by staging dramatic comebacks. This makes her one of the dark horses at the US Open 2015.
#4 Victoria Azarenka
With her foot injury finally giving her the much-awaited reprieve, Victoria Azarenka is showing signs of resurgence since the Wimbledon this year. In an Quarter Final against the eventual winner Serena Williams, Azarenka went toe to toe with Williams for most of the match. Williams found another gear just when she needed to, like she always does, to reel off 6 games in a row in the Final Set to defeat Azarenka.
With a 3-17 Head to Head against Serena Williams, Azarenka is one of the dark horses to watch out for. Though she has never managed to defeat Williams in Grand Slams Azarenka knows what it takes to produce an upset. The serve has been Azarenka’s Achilles heel throughout her career. If her serve is on song, Azarenka has devastating ground strokes to upset the great Williams.
#3 Sabine Lisicki
‘The Smiling Assasin’ serves big and loves the big stage. Sabine Lisicki has tasted most of her Grand Slam success at Wimbledon. Her maiden win over Serena Williams came in the Fourth Round of Wimbledon 2013. Her best performance in the US Open was in 2011 when she reached the Fourth Round.
With a 1-5 Head to Head Record against Serena Williams, Sabine Lisicki has a huge serve that she can use to great effect. She currently holds the WTA record for the most number of aces in one match. Lisicki fired 27 aces against Belinda Bencic at this year’s Aegon Classic at Birmingham. Serena Williams gets a lot of free points with aces in most of her matches. Having sustained an elbow injury post-Wimbledon, Williams has looked slightly vulnerable on her serve. In her Second Round match against Kiki Bertens, Serena Williams served 10 Double Faults.
If Lisicki can get her serve to boom and keep the unforced error count low she has a decent chance at winning her maiden US Open title.
#2 Sam Stosur
Sam Stosur, the US Open Champion in 2011, has been on a downward spiral since her Semi Final appearance at the Roland Garros in 2012. Since the Australian Open 2013 she has not advanced beyond the Fourth Round in any of the Grand Slams.
After changing a couple of coaches she hired her former Coach David Taylor, the man who had guided Stosur to her maiden Grand Slam title, in 2015. Stosur has been playing marginally better and has been trying to find her way back to the top. In the ongoing US Open she seems to be in quite an ominous form making her way to Round 3 without dropping a set.
Stosur has a 3-8 Head to Head Record against Serena Williams with one of those triumphs coming at the US Open Final in 2011. Stosur, without a doubt, played the match of her life to trounce Williams in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 at the US Open in 2011. Stosur has the serve, physicality, an all-round game and David Taylor by her side to give Serena a run for her money and spoil her bid of equaling Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam titles. She is one of those few chosen ones who has beaten Serena in the Finals of a Grand Slam.
#1 Belinda Bencic
Coached by Martina Hingis and her mother Melanie Mollitor, this Swiss teen is making all the right moves in her journey to tennis glory. In the limelight since her first WTA title at Eastbourne, Belinda Bencic has tasted good success in the Hard Court season in the run-up to the US Open 2015. This includes her maiden victory over Serena Williams in the Semi Final of the Rogers Cup at Toronto. Following this sensational triumph over the World No.1, Bencic defeated Simona Halep in the Final to win her first Premier 5 Level WTA title.
With a 1-1 Head to Head Record against Serena Williams, Bencic moves the ball around really well to take Serena out of her comfort zone. Bencic is also not afraid to come to the net and uses the backhand down the line very effectively. Bencic did survive 3 Match Points against Misaki Doi in her Second Round match at the US Open to set up a clash against Venus Williams. She has to clean up her game and not play patchy tennis if she is to have a chance against Serena Williams in a potential Quarter Final showdown.