Another United States Open semifinal had just gone awry for Serena Williams, and Williams’s agent, Jill Smoller, and half sister, Isha Price, were in the corridor inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, leaning against a wall and thumbing their smartphones, oblivious to the fact that they were leaning against a huge photograph of Steffi Graf.
Graf, the long-retired German champion, continues to loom large in the age of Serena Williams. And though Williams still has every chance of breaking her tie with Graf and winning an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam singles title, she now has no realistic chance of breaking her deadlock with Graf for consecutive weeks at No.