Serena Williams vs. Christina McHale: Score and Reaction from 2016 Wimbledon
Christina McHale gave defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams all she could handle on Friday, but the top seed battled her way to the third round with a hard-fought 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-4 win.
McHale shocked Williams by breaking early in the first set and kept pace with the defending champion, forcing a tiebreak she eventually won 9-7. Williams' play improved dramatically in the second set, however, and while McHale battled until the very end, Williams' third-round spot never seemed in doubt after she took the second set.
Williams had a shaky start to the match, hitting a double-fault during her opening serve game and four unforced errors inside the first two games. McHale broke serve in the first game, and she fought off multiple break points in the second, holding after Williams lost her range on a routine forehand.
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The defending champion soon recovered, however, doing plenty of damage in the return game. Williams had the advantage in the rallies as well and freely stepped into the court seemingly at will. Errors continued to hold her game back, and McHale made the most of her chances.
Live Tennis thought the 24-year-old seemed up for the challenge:
"Calm showing from Serena's fellow American so far. #McHale's very much here for this. 3-1 > https://t.co/txueA5D56r pic.twitter.com/KPUTFQdQ4D
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) July 1, 2016"
McHale had two more break chances in the fifth game but failed on both, and Williams quickly ran out to a 40-0 lead in the next game. But once again, the top seed couldn't convert, hitting back-to-back unforced errors to hand the advantage to McHale.
ESPN The Magazine's Howard Bryant noticed Williams seemed to struggle on the points that mattered:
After missing on seven break chances, Williams finally found the breakthrough in the eighth game, tying things up, but just as as the defending champion appeared to grab momentum, rain started to fall.
Fortunately for Williams, Centre Court has a roof, which can be closed fairly quickly. Live Tennis wondered whether that would actually help her:
"Roof over Centre Court. Is it going to benefit Serena? pic.twitter.com/FCxJEoYUrt
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) July 1, 2016"
Williams' serve was clicking when the two came out of the break, and McHale seemed to lose her mojo. A hold to love and some strong returns from Williams set up a first set point in the 10th game, and McHale hit a long forehand that was called out.
The underdog challenged the call, and replays showed the ball barely touched the back line, as shared by this fan:
The successful challenge helped her hold serve, but Williams seemed unleashed at this point, powering through her serve game. McHale held to force a tiebreak but quickly fell behind 3-1.
Williams double-faulted at an inopportune time, but she kept the pressure on with a couple of excellent forehands. One of those forehands went long, however, and a poor return handed McHale a set point.
Williams countered with a superb serve, tying things up at 6-6, but yet another double-fault handed McHale a second chance.
The tiebreak still wasn't over, as Williams saved her skin with a powerful backhand, but the third time proved the charm for McHale, who was gifted the set when Williams fired a routine forehand into the net.
Williams threw a tantrum in response, bashing her racket into the lawn, and the umpire had no choice but to give her a warning, via Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times:
Both players easily held serve to start the second set, but Williams shifted gear in the third game, finding great depth with her groundstrokes and grabbing the break.
The defending champion held for love in the next game, and McHale's confidence seemed to waver. Another quick break followed, and suddenly, Williams led 4-1. She won her fifth straight game rather easily to move within a single game of the set, and while McHale finally halted her run in the seventh game, Williams soon forced a third set.
Rothenberg still wasn't entirely convinced by Williams' level of play, however:
McHale took a short bathroom break in between sets, and the break seemed to have the desired impact. She held serve and broke Williams to start the third set, disrupting her timing with more sliced shots and more depth on her groundstrokes.
But nerves got the better of her, and she double-faulted while facing a break point in the next game to hand the advantage right back to Williams. Another hold to love seemed to signal the end for McHale, although she battled back to erase three more break chances for Williams in the following game.
A marathon seventh game saw McHale just narrowly hold on to her serve, and the two continued to serve up one spectacular point after the other. But McHale's resolve finally broke in the ninth game, and Williams booked her spot in the third round by serving out the match.
Per BBC Sport, Williams explained her outburst at the end of the first set:
"I was just really, really, really angry. I had a lot of chances.
She got really lucky on some shots. She just was playing great. I was a little disappointed in myself at that point.
It was a really good match. She played great and always does against me.
I know that mentally no one can break me and I knew being a break down in third set I had to put my mind to it and that's what I did.
"
Williams will face the in-form Annika Beck in the next round, and the 22-year-old should present her with quite the challenge after she dropped just three games in her win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
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