Halep shocked Wimbledon and Serena Williams by delivering a near perfect display of controlled aggressive tennis and brilliant defense leaving Williams rattled and frustrated by the end in the Womens final at SW19. At the end of the two sets, the Romanian fell to her feet in disbelief as she has never even been in a Wimbledon final before never-mind won the title in such style vs the all time great, 23 Grand Slam champion from the US.
Source - Getty Images - Serena Williams
For Williams this was her 10th Wimbledon final of which she has clinched the title 7 times. You could tell throughout the match who wanted this one more. This was only Halep's second Grand Slam title following up on her French Open win last year.
Halep was relentless from the back, so much so that Williams appeared frustrated and bemused throughout wondering what she had to do to win a game. The Romanian drew so many errors from Williams racket, many from sheer disbelief of how many balls Halep managed to put back into play from tight angles where Williams thought she had won the point.
Halep is like the Djokovic of the Women's game, her style is incredible similar, she plays by frustrating players, defending deep but also landing her own shots back deep towards her opponent and pinning them back. Her tactics worked perfectly against Williams, as the all time great tried to finish off points too quickly, some of which were winnable from more controlled and easier forecourt play where she simply chose the wrong tactics of trying to hit too hard through Halep.
There was many an occasion where Halep landed shots well short where surely you would have expected Wiliams to put them away with ease, but such was her frustration she blazed them long when she could have been more controlled and smart with her play. I guess it's easier said than done when your up against an opponent who is literally like a brick wall.
Williams' power wasn't enough to save her today, nor her serve, her shots looked more threatening than Halep but she simply made too many unforced errors, didn't work her way into points in a steady manner and tried to cut off points too soon. Then again she is now 37, 10 years Halep's senior so I do have to cut her a lot of slack. It makes me wonder why the bookies had her down at 1.50 to win. Although her head to head record is superior, she is now getting on in age and hasn't won a Grand Slam in two and half years.
2015 and 2016 were peak Serena where she won 4 Grand Slams and made two more finals. Even last year she hinted at turning back the clock as she made both the Wimbledon and US Open final only to bow out. But this year she looks more of a spent force, having dropped out in the Quarter Final of the Australian and R32 of France. Who knows perhaps her last stand will come in the final slam of the year - the US Open before she finally decides to hang up her racket.