Williams Rolls Along In Istanbul

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 25th October 2013

Williams Rolls Along In Istanbul

epa03922792 Serena Williams of the USA returns the ball to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic during their match for the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 24 October 2013. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU |

Serena Williams has not lost a singles match since mid-August, a winning run that now totals 16 matches after three successful round robin matches at the Istanbul-staged TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships.

She now owns the second-longest winning streak in the end of calendar tournament’s history, with 13 wins in a row. And she has decimated the opposition so far at the Sinan Erdem Dome in a clear demonstration of her superiority over the rest of the field.ok

Yet after firing 11 aces to overpower 2011 champion Petra Kvitova with an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 score that distinguished her as the first player to qualify for tomorrow’s (Saturday) semi-finals, she revealed she suffers from a recurring nightmare about defaulting from a Grand Slam final.

Psychologists would have a field day analyzing Serena’s subconscious after she revealed: “I dream that I leave the court. I’m in Australia and I leave the country to go do something in the States. Then I don’t make it back in time and I get defaulted.”

More bizarrely she reported that her older sister Venus occasionally admits to experiencing the same dream. “At Wimbledon, I had it a few times,” Serena said. “It’s very disturbing. It’s just the worst dream ever, the worse way to lose a match. I was like, I didn’t know what I have to get and I have to fly all the way back to get it.”

Most certainly defending champion Williams was wide awake as she blew away what most observers speculated would be her most testing challenge from Kvitova. “”I feel pretty good, I was really aggressive tonight,” said the tournament’s top seed

“Petra was aggressive too, but I think my serve did really well. I’m just glad to still be alive in the tournament – I didn’t have any expectations coming here, I just wanted to come here and enjoy myself, and that’s what I’ve done.

“It just feels good to not be out of the tournament. Plus I would just say my focus is what’s pleasing me most of all.”

Topics: 10sballs, Grand Slam, Petra Kvitova, Serena Williams, Sports, TEB BNP Paribas, Tennis, Tennis News, Wta