How Simona Halep Beat Serena Williams for the Wimbledon Title

But the dynamic has changed now, perhaps for good.

Williams is undoubtedly the best player of this era and one of the greatest of all time, but at age 37, she is no longer a reliable closer, something Halep said gave her confidence.

Saturday’s defeat was Williams’s third straight in a major final. All of them have come in straight sets in the past year as she has tried and failed to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 major singles titles.

She has played infrequently this season, largely because of left knee pain, and been unable to win a title of any kind since she returned to the circuit in March 2018. That was six months after she gave birth to her daughter, Olympia Ohanian, and experienced post-delivery complications that she has said were life-threatening.

“I feel like I’m still incredibly competitive or else I wouldn’t really be out here, per se,” Williams said. “For the most part, I feel like I’m on the right track.”

There are, of course, different ways to look at Williams’s series of convincing Grand Slam defeats. It is no doubt remarkable that she continues to reach major finals considering how infrequently she competes in regular tour events. It is no doubt impressive that she can still impose her game and will at this late stage of her career.

At 37, with her next birthday in September, she was the oldest women’s singles finalist at a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era.

Source: The New York Times

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Keywords:

Simona Halep • Serena Williams • The Championships, Wimbledon • Margaret Court • Knee pain • Grand slam (baseball) • No Doubt • No Doubt • 2010 French Open – Women's Singles • Grand Slam (tennis) • History of tennis •