Williams begins calendar Slam push in ruthless style
ByReuters
Published 01/09/2015 at 01:06 GMT
Serena Williams began her final push towards a calendar year Grand Slam in devastating fashion on Monday by pounding Vitalia Diatchenko 6-0 2-0 before the overwhelmed Russian waved the white flag and retired.
Eurosport
Image credit: Eurosport
Following a Broadway style opening ceremony complete with orchestra and choir, Williams stepped onto centre court under a spotlight to loud applause from the New York crowd just seven matches from her goal.
The six-time champion would exit Arthur Ashe Stadium just 30 minutes later to more applause and her target reduced to six more wins to join the exclusive club of calendar Grand Slam winners Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf.
Standing across from the world number one for the first time, Diatchenko appeared frozen in fear as Williams won 32 points to just five by the Russian.
In just seven minutes, the 21-times grand slam singles champion and defending U.S. Open title holder was 3-0 up against her 86th ranked opponent.
Down 5-0 in the first set, a shaken Diatchenko called for the trainer to look at her left foot and after Williams wrapped up the opening set the Russian left the court for more treatment.
With Williams taking a 2-0 lead in the second, Diatchenko signalled she had suffered enough and after a brief chat with the chair umpire walked over to shake her opponent's hand.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement