Williams’s inability to seal the deal — she would have faced another Italian outsider, Flavia Pennetta, in the final — or play her best showed how expectation builds during a Grand Slam chase. Though Williams twice won four majors in a row — the so-called Serena Slams — the Grand Slam hunt generates higher levels of start-to-finish pressure. Players know that if they lose at the Australian Open to start the season that the Grand Slam is unattainable that year. Navratilova won six straight majors in 1983 and 1984, a year in which she won an astounding 74 straight singles matches. soon retreated and has reverted to defining the Grand Slam as a calendar-year achievement.

Source: International New York Times August 30, 2021 15:07 UTC