The real Serena finally shows up at Wimbledon

London (Reuters): A loud and brash Red Arrows flypast over Wimbledon’s Court One provided a timely distraction on Saturday that allowed the real Serena Williams to finally show up at the All England Club this year.

Before the unexpected interruption, there definitely seemed to be something amiss. 

The impostor who had turned up this week looked like Williams and sounded like Williams but she definitely did not play like a champion who owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

How else would one explain the American dropping a set against a 133rd-ranked qualifier in the second round or squandering three break points from 0-40 up against Germany’s Julia Goerges on Saturday? But once the plumes of smoke left behind by the Red Arrows had painted the overcast sky a patriotic red, white and blue, the seven-times Wimbledon champion’s competitive fires began to burn brightly and she screamed to a 6-3 6-4 win over Goerges to reach the second week of Wimbledon for the 16th time.

“It’s been an arduous year for me so every match I’m hoping to improve. Every time I go out there I try,” said the 37-year-old, whose build-up to the grasscourt major had been hampered by a knee injury. “I’m getting a really late start (in all of my matches here so far, but) all that matters is that I am still here.”

Being in the fourth-round mix means that it is still game on for the record 24th Grand Slam title that has proved elusive over the past year — when final appearances at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows both proved to be lost causes.