US Open: Anastasija Sevastova has the more recent tennis history on her side

Anastasija Sevastova has reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. On Thursday at the US Open, Serena Williams will be waiting for the Latvian.

By Jens Huiber from New York City

Oh, yes: Anastasija Sevastova wanted to get rid of one thing during her press conference after her quarter-final victory over Sloane Stephens. You actually have two coaches, not only Ronald Schmidt. But also Marco Mirnegg, whose serves during the warm-up would have simulated exactly those of the defending champion. Mirnegg would have been around 200 in the world rankings. Only if you didn’t have that on your note, dear representatives of the New York Times, Daily News, etc…

The ATP statistics for the native of Linz show 204th place. Anastasija Sevastova will be at least 17th in the world rankings from Monday, but will not reach their career high of 15 if they beat Serena Williams.

How is that supposed to work? “With stops, maybe.”

What Sevastova said half jokingly. The Dropshot is of course one of her best weapons, but Sloane Stephens has also brought her ever closer to the brink of physical exhaustion with her solid baseline play. It’s going to be harder against Serena because they won’t play until the evening. It’s supposed to cool down in New York on Thursday.

Coach Schmidt was cool in the match against Stephens. The Styrian went with Thomas Muster in his second career stage as coach on the ox tour through the lower tennis floors, has convinced his partner Sevastova to return to the tour despite some injuries.

Schmidt was in the heat of the battle the calm itself, Anastasiya Sevastova not so much. As usual, the 28-year-old registered an urgent need to speak after every point she gave, Schmidt reacted with Buddhist serenity. Only after the match point did he attack his head in disbelief, celebrating in the pits with Marco Mirnegg, while unbelieving silence spread at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Sevastova have never played Serena Williams before and the stops would be worth considering. However, the speed of the 23-time major winner is often underestimated, as is Serena’s ability to anticipate. Not everything worked out perfectly against Karolina Pliskova, but good enough.

Anastasija Sevastova has other qualities than the Czech, primarily a footwork that actually suggests world class. And Ronnie Schmidt in the box. He will certainly not forget to tell his protégé the more recent semi-final story of Serena Williams. It consists of two consecutive defeats: 2016 against Pliskova, the year before against Roberta Vinci.