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Not long after she had stormed past another hopelessly overmatched victim at the US Open, Serena Williams was asked if she felt compassion while administering the double-bagel beating also known as love and love.
"Well, you don't really think about it," she said. "You just think about winning the points and winning the games."
Williams had no reason to be defensive about the result, and she wasn't.
What she might have noted had she been furnished with the contextual information was that Carla Suarez Navarro, her vanquished opponent, had beaten a young American, Lauren Davis, by the same 6-0, 6-0 score in the first round.
Those who fail to win even one game can thank the peerless Bud Collins for introducing the bagel metaphor to the tennis vernacular during his long broadcasting career.
No one enjoys being fed a double bagel. But it's part of the game, or the tennis version of a perfect game.
Has anyone in the history of Major League Baseball ever expressed sympathy or apologised after pitching one?
"I had no problem winning love and love," Chris Evert said while taking time out from her ESPN analyst duties. In her day, she and Martina Navratilova had their share of grand slam matches that could have used a mercy rule.
"I think that's the streak you have to have if you're going to be a champion," Evert said. "If you asked Serena or any of the other great players, they'd probably say the same thing."
In a first-round match last week, Williams so overwhelmed Francesca Schiavone - a dogged competitor and French Open champion - that Schiavone comforted herself in the arms of a ball boy. She managed to get a game off Williams in the second set.
Many men and women have tasted a double bagel defeat. Several men have endured triple bagels during a grand slam or Davis Cup match. For 39 minutes on Wednesday night, it looked as if it might be Tommy Robredo's turn until he finally took a game from Rafael Nadal on the way to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 defeat.
Compassion? "Maybe after the match," said Williams, who struck a gracious and consoling pose with Suarez Navarro at the net.
What else could she do or say?
The New York Times


'Bagel' defeat hard to stomach for tennis players

Serena Williams

Serena Williams wins US Open quarterfinal 6-0, 6-0

Serena Williams. Photo: AFP

Sport

Tennis

But Serena Williams admits she never thinks about mercy - and why should she?


Not long after she had stormed past another hopelessly overmatched victim at the US Open, Serena Williams was asked if she felt compassion while administering the double-bagel beating also known as love and love.


'Bagel' defeat hard to stomach for tennis players

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}But Serena Williams admits she never thinks about mercy - and why should she?

But Serena Williams admits she never thinks about mercy - and why should she?