A Terrifying Matchup Even Before It Materialises

How intimidating is it to stand on a court across from Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players in history?

Andrea Hlavackova, a doubles specialist from the Czech Republic, will tell you.

The first time she played Williams was in 2012, in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Her coached prepared her in a most unconventional way.

"Just won't worry about getting double-bageled, just go out there and play your game," he said, referring to the possibility that Williams could win, 6-0, 6-0.

"Ha, ha," Hlavackova replied.

After a moment, she thought, "Wait, that's not so funny."

Not funny because getting crushed was a very real possibility. At this year's Open, Williams walked over Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko in the first round when Diatchenko retired with an injury. Based on Williams' history, she could do much more damage to the players ahead.

Less than a month before playing Hlavackova in 2012, Williams won a gold medal at the London Olympics. On her way to that feat, she recorded a pair of 6-0 sets against two former No. 1 players, including Maria Sharapova, whom she trounced in the final, 6-0, 6-1.

It was a show of Williams' strength and her ability to squish between her fingers anyone who dared challenge her.

Next up was Hlavackova, a good player but not one anywhere near the top of the singles rankings. Would she be the next victim? Hlavackova gulped.

At this U.S. Open, I bet a lot of players have been gulping when they see themselves matched with Williams on the draw sheet, or even on her side of the bracket. Her next opponent, in the third round, is Bethanie Mattek-Sands, whom she will play on Friday.

It has probably dawned on Mattek-Sands and the rest of Williams' challengers that they could be mere speed bumps on her quest to win all four Grand Slam titles this year.

Maybe they've played her in the past and know what to expect; maybe not. Maybe they remember the times she obliterated top players, like Carla Su~CHECK~rez Navarro, currently ranked 10th, whom Williams double-bageled in the quarterfinals of the 2013 Open. Or the many other times she shut out players for at least one set.

No matter, though - the scenario ahead for the players tabbed to meet Williams remains the same.

On match day, on court, they will play in a silent bubble.

Not a single whoosh of the ball screaming past, before it kisses the far side of the court for a forehand winner. Or the echo of Williams' exhale as she connects on an improbable backhand so mighty it threatens to break racket strings.

"You don't really hear anything," said Madison Brengle, an American who lost to Williams, 6-0, 6-1, in Madrid in May. "You're just so worried about the ball because it's coming at you so fast that your brain can't process anything but how to react at that very moment. So no sounds, really. Well, maybe your heart beating pretty loud."

Out of fear? For some players on the WTA Tour, let's face it: The answer would be yes. But there is absolutely no shame in admitting that a safer, perhaps saner, option than facing Williams at this Open would be taking the next flight home.

A few brave players, like Dominika Cibulkova, a finalist at the 2014 Australian Open, are ready for the challenge. Cibulkova is 0-5 against Williams, including a 6-0, 6-1 loss to her in Rome two years ago, yet she still wants to measure herself against Williams - and find a way to beat her.

But ugh, that serve, that Williams serve. It's to Cibulkova what Newman was to Seinfeld. Just the thought of it prompts the ends of Cibulkova's mouth to curl toward the ground.

"My advantage is my return and she just doesn't let me play my game," Cibulkova said. "Even when I go on the court against Maria Sharapova, I know I can do it, and I know what I have to do to beat her, but against Serena I still didn't find my rhythm. When she's 100 percent focused and she wants to win, you have no chance."

When Vania King lost to Williams, 6-1, 6-0, last year at the Open, King tried to calm herself by taking one point at a time. But her synapses were firing in double time as her adrenaline pumped triple time. Her brain was rocketing ideas at her: Breathe. Go here. Go there. Go to the net on the next point. Keep committing to this.

In the end, it was just too overwhelming.

"It was her reputation and her physique and the fact that she is a Grand Slam champion and wins a lot and is a lot bigger than me," said King, who is 5-foot-5 and 130 pounds, to Williams' 5-9, 150. "It all adds up."

All the ingredients are there to make it one nerve-racking, uncontrollable blur.

For Hlavackova's first match against Williams, the balls were zipping by Hlavackova so quickly that the shots seemed otherworldly, like comets.

"Just, wow, this is some power," Hlavackova remembered thinking.

She tried to find a way to hit the ball at different angles, or play deeper so she could stop feeling as if she were under attack by legions of incessant fuzzy, round bullets. Those ideas might have worked if she had more chances at getting her racket on the ball.

"She kept hitting winners and smashed every single ball," Hlavackova said. "Later I watched it and saw that those winners went on for 12 minutes. Twelve whole minutes!"

When the match was 6-0, 5-0, Hlavackova looked up to her coach - the same one who suggested that she could be double-bageled - and she said, "Well, I guess this would be a good time to win a game."

It was not to be. Williams showed no mercy, and Hlavackova didn't want any gifts.

The only mercy was that it was over.

She said to herself, "Oh, my God, I didn't win a game; I'm so embarrassed," but later put the situation into perspective.

"I was proud of making it that far and being able to play one of the best ever," Hlavackova said. "I can always say, 'At least a champion beat me.'"

She's right. Someday, it will be something to tell the grandchildren.