Morning Distribution for Monday, August 29, 2022

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Morning Distribution]( Monday, August 29, 2022 Your daily briefing from FiveThirtyEight --------------------------------------------------------------- The Morning Story [2022 US Open – Previews]( [Serena Williams’s Unimpeachable Serve]( By [Amy Lundy]( Serena Williams described her desire to be “perfect.” “I know perfect doesn’t exist,” [she wrote in Vogue]( earlier this month, announcing her plans to leave professional tennis. “But whatever my perfect was, I never wanted to stop until I got it right.” Williams’s serve — the most elementally sound component of her game — might come as statistically close to perfection as a tennis stroke can get. This week, fans can appreciate this masterstroke as she plays her last U.S. Open and takes one more crack at tying Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam titles. [Fluid like water]( but [powerful like a jackhammer]( Williams’s serve has underpinned her 23 Grand Slam victories — more than any player in the Open Era. Her dominance began and ended with that signature stroke. The Grand Slam titles came easily when she won an astronomically high percentage of first serve points, [harder when her first serve was marginally off](. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: If The Midterms Were Tomorrow, Republicans Might Be In Trouble]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.