Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
If you were a Serena Williams fan, things all looked so reassuring again on Thursday night as she pounded first serves and ripped winners on the run against an overwhelmed younger opponent to reach her 10th United States Open final in style.
But the tricky part for Williams in this latest and perhaps most fascinating phase of her long, layer-cake of a career has not been bringing the thunder in matches like Thursday’s 6-3, 6-1 semifinal defeat of Elina Svitolina.
It has been Saturdays with Grand Slam titles on the line.