Serena Williams was teed up for the upset. You could see it coming for Alize Cornet, the 49th-ranked Frenchwoman, whom Williams faced Monday in the second round of the Olympic Games in Rio. Cornet had beaten Williams the past three times they played, bringing their improbable rivalry square at three wins apiece.
Among the casualties was men's top seed Novak Djokovic, who left the same Centre Court of the Barra Olympic Park weeping following his first-round loss Sunday to Juan Martin del Potro.
Cornet has the kind of game that makes other players want to teach her a lesson. She's like a pebble in the shoe of everyone she plays. She's tireless, her game is unpredictable, her attitude brazen. That puffball serve of hers begs to be clobbered, but it's hard to time it right -- especially for a player like Williams, who feeds on pace. Cornet's backhand is her pride and joy. Maybe that's why Williams went after it so wolfishly, stubbornly -- and futilely -- trying to break it down.
Williams is 34, and questions always follow an aging athlete. It's all the more marked in the case of an icon like Williams. And the questions tend to repeat themselves. So do the answers. Over and over. At Wimbledon, she rebounded with an historic title. So it's hardly surprising that once again Williams got into a jam Monday that she found a way to drill her way out of it.
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| Serena Williams lives |
Cornet's wins against Williams all happened in 2014, a stormy year for the American. And the skies weren't always piercing blue for Williams in the interim, either. Who would have predicted that semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci at last year's US Open? And what about her shortcomings in her next two Grand Slams, in Australia and France earlier this year?
Cornet has the kind of game that makes other players want to teach her a lesson. She's like a pebble in the shoe of everyone she plays. She's tireless, her game is unpredictable, her attitude brazen. That puffball serve of hers begs to be clobbered, but it's hard to time it right -- especially for a player like Williams, who feeds on pace. Cornet's backhand is her pride and joy. Maybe that's why Williams went after it so wolfishly, stubbornly -- and futilely -- trying to break it down.
Williams is 34, and questions always follow an aging athlete. It's all the more marked in the case of an icon like Williams. And the questions tend to repeat themselves. So do the answers. Over and over. At Wimbledon, she rebounded with an historic title. So it's hardly surprising that once again Williams got into a jam Monday that she found a way to drill her way out of it.
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