LONDON -- Serena Williams came to Wimbledon this year in need of replenishment among all those hydrangeas, Pimm's sipping swells and ivy-covered walls. She hoped that the legend-friendly ambiance of the All England Club and the soothing, lime-green lawns that are so welcoming to her explosive serve
would help her overcome torments that have been plaguing her.
It isn't working out quite that way, as Williams' second-round clash with Christina McHale on Friday demonstrated.
In yet another volatile episode in her quest to win Grand Slam singles title No. 22 and equal Steffi Graf's career record, Williams fell behind spirited challenger Christina McHale and was lucky to escape 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4 in two hours and 29 minutes.
"I was out there playing for my life at that point," Williams said of the close third set. "I felt like I was definitely in warrior mode. Trying to play to stay in the tournament."
The sunny skies under which Williams smoothly opened her title defense on Tuesday against qualifier Amra Sadikovic were gone by the time the WTA No. 1 met the No. 65 McHale. Also gone was the easy command and composure Williams had shown throughout that first match.
McHale is a few classes above Sadikovic and was at (or close to) her best on Friday. McHale is quick around the court. Her consistency is the product of great technique, and she's a fighter. All the parts were moving in unison, and it rattled Williams. McHale bolted to a quick 4-2 lead, and it was touch-and-go the rest of the way, with a few stomach-churning episodes for both women.
Williams had a set point with McHale serving at 4-5 in the first set, but McHale challenged an out call at the baseline and won the overrule to remain alive. She went on to hold. Williams lost the ensuing tiebreaker after leading it 3-1, partly because she threw in two double faults. As she sank to her chair, she repeatedly smashed her racket on the turf and then tossed it over her shoulder.
The racket landed in the lap of a cameraman. Williams landed a big fine.
"It's definitely a fine [up to $20,000]," she said later. She tried to make light of the incident. "I've gotten fined a number of times for cracking racquets. In fact, I look at it like I didn't crack one at the French Open or Rome, so I was doing really good. I try to crack a certain amount a year. I'm a little behind this year, so it was good."
It was a facetious remark, but there was nothing funny about the struggle that created the incident. The defending champion has become a profligate player. Prodigious winners and errors pour off her racket, often at unpredictable times. Often in equal measure. She's tugged by invisible forces, prey to mystifying pressures that have become her omnipresent companions.
After the match, when a reporter began to ask about Williams' moth-to-flame dance with Graf's record, she abruptly cut him off: "That is another thing I'm not talking about anymore."
Williams deserves plenty of sympathy. She's so obviously struggling. But she's also yielding valuable psychological turf in almost every match with her body language and by communicating her frustrations so vividly. And that must make her life tougher. When she makes a fist, doubles over and screams, "Come on," she might as well be yelling across the net, telling her opponent that if she just keeps her cool and hits some shots she has an excellent chance to win.
But it would be naive to assume Williams doesn't know this. It's more likely she's aware of it but couldn't care less. A career spent dominating, expressing herself however she pleases, must be a hard habit to break.
Besides, players do have trouble keeping their cool and hitting shots. McHale did. After her second-set lapse, McHale jumped to a 2-0, 40-15 third-set lead. Curtains for Williams -- until McHale whacked a double fault and made a forehand error, eventually losing the game and her advantage.
"It was good for me to get through that," Williams said. "There were times where I was down and out. I just kept fighting. That's what I know I can do best. I knew that I could count on that, rely on that. I think my form, obviously it has to be better. I hope to play more matches to get better. I'm ready for it. I'm ready for any challenge."
Williams finished her match just slightly later than her sister Venus, who also had a seesaw battle, with No. 29 seed Daria Kasatkina. Venus won in two hours and 42 minutes, 10-8 in the third set, and might have been speaking for both Williamses when she said: "Well, at the end, the goal is to be at the net shaking hands, the winner. So however you get that done is usually how you get it done."
ESPN
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