These are the matches in which Serena Williams’ game reaches another echelon, and Victoria Azarenka is the opponent she brings this level against more than most.
It was arguably the highest quality tennis played in the women’s draw this year and quite possibly of the season to date.
Three times this year the pair have met. Three times it has gone to three – in Madrid, where Azarenka had three match points before losing a third-set tie-break, at last month’s French Open and now here. The Belarusian is not one to hide her frustration at this trend.
“I can't lie and say that I'm not disappointed because that's I think a normal reaction of having to lose just a match right now,” Azarenka said. “It was a high‑quality match. I can't say I went out there and didn't play well. We just saw today why Serena is No.1. I haven't seen her play like this, honestly, even the last matches before that.”
Azarenka’s 2014 season was blighted by a foot injury, which sidelined her for five months and ended her season prematurely in September. It has been a steady if slower than expected return since and a combination of a struggle for confidence and some tough early draws have seen her languishing outside the top 20 in the world. It is not where she belongs.
In a sign of her determination to once again be a force at the top of the game, she admits while the Williams serve ultimately steamrolled any inroads on Centre Court on Wednesday, she produced a level even higher than when she stormed to consecutive Australian Open titles and held the world No.1 ranking.
“I feel much better than I was ever before. I don't think I've ever played that high quality of tennis with my game still coming together. That's what is promising. That's something that still keeps me excited, you know, and motivated to go work harder,” a resolute Azarenka said. “Something like this, what happened today, is just a great lesson that I'm going to take and going to go back to work harder because, you know, it's inspiring. It really is inspiring. I love to be pushed that way. I love that challenge.”
This was Azarenka’s most promising performance since her 2013 US Open final where she went within two games of beating the same woman across the net.
“I almost had it. I had chances to get that break back (in the deciding set). I'm going to fight until the last point, until I have a chance, until they call it game, set, match, I'm going to try. I think that's been kind of my trademark,” she said. “I think we put on a great show together really. I think it's been a while since there was that high quality of women's tennis.”
Against a player who thumped down 17 aces and 46 winners – more than double her own tally – Azarenka was always going to have to produce something special. In the opening set, she did. But as so often happens when the beast is awoken within, Williams upped it a notch early in the second and broke a second time to take the set.
The crowd was in for a lesson on grass-court aggression on Wednesday. Azarenka did not fade. She simply was overthrown by a player raising the bar, a player who now closes to within two victories of holding all four Grand Slam titles with her 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 result.
Wimbledon title No.6 for Williams would put her in a position to achieve a rare first in her career – the calendar-year Grand Slam in New York. “I will do anything I can, anything, to be able to not just beat Serena, but to win Wimbledon. I will do anything to win Grand Slams. I look and I see that somebody's raising the level, and that's where I want to get to. To be able to raise my level even higher against top opponents,” Azarenka said.
“If I'm on the other side of the net, it will not bother me that she's going for history, I'm going to try to win. You cannot deny the incredible achievement that she has. I always wish her luck. But I'm not going to wish her luck when I'm on the opposite side of the court.”
A rival with an even more unfortunate record against the world No.1 is Maria Sharapova. She meets Williams next and has not taken a set off her in more than two years. If Azarenka was willing to part with advice for the Russian on how to break her own Williams hoodoo, what would be her one tip?
“If I had one, I would have used it today, trust me.”