U.S. Open crowd is behind Williams' quest

NEW YORK - Michael McDermott's seats in the front row of the second deck at Arthur Ashe Stadium offered the perfect scenic overlook. As Serena Williams served, McDermott held up his phone to capture a little video. When Williams won the game, in control of her second-round match, the 21-year-old clapped politely.

From his midcourt perch, had McDermott been worried when Williams fell behind in the first set? He shook his head. If you say McDermott has seen it all from Serena Williams, that's close to true.

"I watch most of her matches in a year," McDermott had said.

Like a second-round match in Cincinnati?

"Yeah," McDermott said.

McDermott is a tennis player himself. He also is a student at University College Dublin. He made it to Arthur Ashe Stadium from Ireland specifically to see Williams, who this week can become the first man or woman to win the Grand Slam since 1988. His mother was there, too - her cousin on Long Island got the tickets - although Michael is the one who sets his phone alarm to wake at all hours to watch one person play tennis.

"He's not lying," said Anna Marie McDermott, Michael's mother.

This year marked the first time the U.S. Open women's final, to be played next Saturday, has sold out before the men's final the next day. Wandering into any of Williams' matches also suggests how many have been coming for her all along.

Are U.S. Open crowds mostly New Yorkers and others who can get there easily for the day? Mostly true. A trip around the upper concourse before Williams played her second-round match revealed Serena fans from Flushing ("We're just over that U-Haul sign," said a man there with his wife, pointing to their apartment off to the east.), from East Elmhurst ("By LaGuardia."), from Bedford-Stuyvesant ("We took the C train to the G train to the 7 train.").

"I wanted to see her in person," said Ron from Brooklyn, who wouldn't give his last name since he had to take off from work. He'd never seen Williams play before. He compared it to seeing LeBron James play basketball or Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. He likes to see dominance.

More people than you might think, however, had made it to Flushing Meadows from all over the country, and even beyond, to see Serena. Some said it was important to get here this year, to maybe witness part of history firsthand. Others wondered how many more times they'd get a chance to see Williams.

The Williams quest to win the Grand Slam is the dominant story line of this year's Open. For some, that's obviously more than a narrative, more like a delightful obsession.

Brenda Daniels, who didn't want to say how old she is (but was willing to reveal that she competes in dragon-boat races in the 60-year-old-plus division), came in from Inglewood, Calif., maybe 20 minutes from where Serena and Venus Williams grew up.

"I can't watch when she gets behind," Daniels said of watching on television at home. "I get out of the room. My husband calls out and tells me what's happening."

Her smartphone, Daniels said, is more like a Serena phone. More than anything, she uses it to update herself on Williams.

"Who she's dating, what kind of clothes she's wearing - I love her friendship with Caroline Wozniacki," Daniels said.

It's Serena's whole story that drew her in, Daniels said. She feels common ground from rising above struggles in her own life, eventually working in medical science. Like most, she first became aware of the Williams sisters, Venus and 15-months-younger sister Serena, when they came on the pro tour. (She remembers the white hair beads, mainly a Venus trademark.) She still loves Venus, she said, but it was the younger one she really attached herself to emotionally.

She watched Serena rise and then rise higher and eventually take over, watched her grow as a person and then add personal dimensions. She's proud of the independence she sees from Serena, how she lives part of the year in Paris.

This is Daniels' fifth trip to Flushing Meadows. She explained how she tries to pass her own spirit to Williams - as many in the stadium are doing this week, if you listen closely at all - and Daniels said she believes the transference of power can work both ways.

"I can feel her," Daniels said.

Daniels once went to Paris to watch Williams at the French Open. McDermott, the Irishman, obviously can relate. He has set his phone alarm for 3 a.m. to catch an early-round match at the Australian Open. His deep affinity for Williams came, he said, because she was an outsider who dominated her sport. "She's so unique," McDermott said.

McDermott was asked what he made of that time Serena chewed out a line judge at the Open, her colorful yet insulting language captured live.

"The media always brings that up," McDermott said. "In other sports, this wouldn't be a story."

As for her play, McDermott spoke simply of "the power, the movement, the intensity."

Just up the concourse, Brian Jones of Kinston, N.C., will deny it if you say he got a little emotional when his girlfriend, Kisha Williams, surprised him in July with Open tickets for his birthday.

"My girlfriend does not like tennis, but she came to see Serena," Jones said.

He wanted to see Serena. They sat 12 rows from the top and enjoyed every minute of it. Other fans looked a little funny at Kisha, he said, when she kept cheering for C.C.

C.C.?

"That's her nickname for [Serena]," Jones said.

Kisha Williams explained it's more like "See-See."

"See her whip some butt!" Kisha Williams shouted out, breaking into laughter.

Good luck to Serena's opponents hoping they can sway this crowd into rooting for an upset. This fortnight isn't about that. This crowd wants to be along for the ride.

Mike Moreland, in from Chicago and on his third Open pilgrimage, didn't start coming just to see Williams, the three-time defending champion. But Moreland did say, "I don't know if I'll keep coming when she retires."