For a brief moment, Serena Williams almost cracked. It did not happen during her semifinal match on Thursday against Anastasija Sevastova. There was little chance of that.
It came after her dominating 6-3, 6-0 victory, in an on-court interview, when the magnitude of her yearlong journey — from the of joy of giving birth to the fear of life-threatening postnatal complications and ultimately to the demanding path back to tennis success — crystallized in her mind.
She fought back the tears, but there was no hiding her sentiments after she had reached her first Open final in four years.