Facing Serena not easy for Open opponents who look up to her

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Tennis Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The next woman who must deal with the daunting task of playing Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, Ajla Tomljanovic, considers herself an admirer of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. Tomljanovic says she’s been a fan of Williams since she was a kid. They meet for the first time on Friday night in the third round. The players Williams beat in the second round on Wednesday and first round Monday also grew up watching her on TV — and also had never played her until this week. This is not why Williams is winning these contests in what is expected to be the last tournament of her career, but it sure can’t hurt.