Three Things We Can Learn From Serena’s U.S. Open Loss

November 19, 2015 | By Steven Kaplan
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Photo credit: Sidney Beal III @ Clique Photography

Serena Williams’ semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci at the 2015 U.S. Open has been called "the greatest upset in tennis history." Indeed, who could have predicted that Serena's dominance of Grand Slams would be derailed by a player ranked 43rd in the world.

With the omniscience of time, perhaps this grand upset makes a little more sense.

Let's briefly look at three things that went wrong for Serena, and right for Roberta Vinci and learn from them.

1. Serena cracked under pressure
The build up to Serena's chance to win a Grand Slam was enormous. The women's finals in Flushing Meadows sold out before the men's finals this year. Serena was on the brink of history, about to become only the fourth woman to win a Calendar Grand Slam and the first since Stefanie Graf in 1988 (the two others are Maureen Connolly and Margaret Court).

Most experts were about to hand the title to Serena, but her semifinal matchup with the crafty Vinci proved the old saying "That's why they play the match" to be true.

Serena was asked about the pressure of the match, and she replied, "I don't feel pressure. I never felt pressure." Sure Serena … you were erratic all tournament and you refused to confront your own—as well as your opponent’s—vulnerabilities, even after they were displayed to the world.

The road to choking is paved with denial.

The best way to manage and overcome fear is to face it.

2. Serena was overconfident
How many times have we heard the saying: "Only Serena can beat Serena?" Vinci had a brilliant plan to manage Serena's power and executed that plan flawlessly, as the Italian played down the middle to take away Serena's angled attack.

John McEnroe, in his autobiography You Can't be Serious, revealed that the great Don Budge gave him this same advice to play Ivan Lendl. McEnroe then used this tactic to turn a seven-match losing streak into an eight-match winning streak. I like to tell students that if a boxer and wrestler get into the ring, the winner will not be the stronger of better fighter. Rather, it will be the combatant who is better able to impose their style.

You don't have to play great or outhit your opponent if you can exploit their weaknesses and play your game.

3. Serena changed her routine
Let's not forget that Serena's boyfriend, Drake, showed up for her semifinals match (after a much publicized make out session in a Cincinnati restaurant) which is fine, except for two things. First, he had not attended any of her previous matches at the U.S. Open and this was an especially critical time. Serena's coach was now her new ex-boyfriend and this had to have been at least slightly and unnecessarily stressful. The fact that Coach Patrick Mouratoglou openly criticized his employer (Serena) to the press after this loss leaves me to suspect that things might have been a bit tense.

Find a good routine during a tournament and stick to it. Winning is a habit and winning habits must be respected.

History will likely consider Serena, the greatest player in women’s tennis history, but even champions have flaws that we can learn from.


Steven Kaplan

Steven Kaplan is the owner and managing director of Bethpage Park Tennis Center, as well as director emeritus of Lacoste Academy for New York City Parks Foundation and executive director and founder of Serve & Return Inc. Steve has coached more than 1,100 nationally-ranked junior players, 16 New York State high school champions, two NCAA Division 1 Singles Champions, and numerous highly-ranked touring professionals. Many of the students Steve has closely mentored have gone to achieve great success as prominent members of the New York financial community, and in other prestigious professions. In 2017, Steve was awarded the Hy Zausner Lifetime Achievement Award by the USTA. He may be reached by e-mail at StevenJKaplan@aol.com.

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