Foot Fault!

Just a day before Serena Williams made her comeback this year at Eastbourne, I was chatting with a fellow fan in Devonshire Park about who would be Serena’s top 10 scalp as she worked her way back to the top of the game. In no time at all, we had both agreed that Sharapova would be the most likely.

Turns out we were right as Serena did take out Sharapova first in Stanford two weeks ago. But more than that, it’s obvious that her mission is much bigger than that. The mission is clearly to take them all down, and to take all them down as soon as possible. And after Sharapova and Bartoli in Stanford, Serena crossed off yet another top ten name from her list as she strolled through Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3 and into the Toronto final, recording her tenth-straight win in the process.

This match saw another step forward for Serena. Her improvement has been so steady, and though there have been numerous dips in form, the way she has always bounced back from them has been so impressive. This is particularly true of this week, as after back-to-back tight three-setters against Zheng Jie and Lucie Safarova, Serena stepped up her form in the semis and completely overwhelmed an Azarenka playing at the top of her game. And the scary thing is that she did so while barely moving and breaking a sweat.

For Azarenka however, it’s a stark reminder that though her game is perfectly suited to demolishing every low-ranked player with max efficiency, she is far too underpowered and lacking in the variety and movement categories to present a particularly big challenge to the bigger hitters in tennis.

But regardless, this victory for Serena will undoubtedly send yet another chilling message to the rest of the tour. And I know that if I was one of those top ten players, right now I would be shaking in my boots at the very mention of her name.

Awaiting Serena in the final is Sam Stosur who defeated Aga Radwanska 6-2 5-7 6-2 earlier on in the day.