NEW YORK (AP) — Her yells of “Come on!” filling a stadium devoid of spectators, Serena Williams was pushed to the brink of a stunning loss in her longest match since 2012 before pulling away with a perfect tiebreaker and edging Arantxa Rus 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0) Monday at the Western & Southern Open.
“I had a crowd in my head or something,” Williams said with a laugh. “For me, it was like there was a crowd there.”
Rus is a Dutch qualifier ranked No. 72 whose flat, left-handed strokes from the baseline gave Williams some trouble. Williams dropped four games in a row in the second set, then did so again in the third, when she fell behind 6-5.
Rus served for the match there and, at deuce in that game, was two points from victory.
She wouldn’t win another point. A double-fault gave Williams a break chance, and an errant groundstroke sent the match to the concluding tiebreaker.
Showing the strokes and grit that carried her to 23 Grand Slam titles — against an opponent who has never won so much as one tour-level singles title of any sort — Williams ran away with it, ending the 2-hour, 48-minute match with a forehand, celebrating most points with a yell and a clenched left fist.
Williams hadn’t spent that much time on a court since the 2012 French Open, when she lost in the first round to Virginie Razzano in 3 hours, 3 minutes. That was Williams’ only career first-round exit at a Grand Slam tournament.
“I did hit a wall today in the second set, I was so hot. That never happens,” Williams said. “So I think physically, I’m fit. Tennis is mental. You know, it’s all mental.”
The 38-year-old American is seeded third at the Western & Southern Open, which normally is held in Ohio but was moved to the site of the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The two hard-court tournaments are forming an unusual doubleheader with no fans; the U.S. Open starts Aug. 31.
After losses Sunday by No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova and No. 2 Sofia Kenin, it appeared Williams might join them.
But thanks in part to 14 aces — one at 121 mph — Williams moved into a third-round match against No. 13 Maria Sakkari, a 6-4, 7-6 (9) winner against Yulia Putintseva on Monday after beating 16-year-old American Coco Gauff in the first round.
Looking ahead to what’s next, Sakkari, who is Greek, figured it might work to her advantage to have a quiet setting, because if there were a crowd of thousands when she plays Serena, it would break down along these lines: “99% with her, 1% with me.”
In other women’s action, No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, joined the list of early exits with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 loss to 48th-ranked Marie Bouzkova.
No. 8 Johanna Konta defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-0, No. 14 Elise Mertens got past Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 and qualifier Jessica Pegula beat 18-year-old Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-2 in an all-American matchup.
While No. 1 Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play in the evening, and No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev began the defense of his 2019 Western & Southern Open title with a straight-set victory, two American men knocked off seeded opponents.
Reilly Opelka — at 6-foot-11, he’s 16 inches taller than Monday’s opponent — eliminated No. 9 seed Diego Scwartzman 6-3, 7-6 (4), and Tennys Sandgren came back for a 6-7 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 15 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who accumulated 15 double-faults.
No. 16 John Isner hit 35 aces and won 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) despite never breaking John Millman’s serve.
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