Serena Williams has been dominating women’s tennis so much this year that I don’t know of any sports analyst who gave Victoria “Vika” Azarenka, her opponent in today’s U.S. Open final, any chance of winning. And Serena proved them right.
In fact, the only thing that surprised anybody was that it took her three sets to dispatch Vika:
It had taken longer than most anyone had imagined and a much tougher opponent than she’d faced all tournament, but Williams had proved victorious. She was the U.S. Open champion, again — for the fifth time. She beat a relentless Victoria Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1 for her 17th Grand Slam singles title, one fewer than Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on the all-time list.
(USA TODAY, September 8, 2013)
Ironically, what I found most interesting about the match was that it took her three sets. Because it allowed Serena to display remarkable poise under pressure, which was the only thing I found lacking in her game.
Remember this:
Saturday’s semifinal match between Serena Williams and Kim Clijsters of Belgium was billed as little more than a tune-up for Serena’s berth into the championship final…
Serena was trailing 5-6 and serving down 15-30 (with Kim just two points away from the upset of the tournament) when a line judge called a foot fault on her second serve. This gave Kim a 15-40 lead with two break opportunities to win the game, set, and match.
However, instead of channeling her grit and passion on fighting Kim to save serve, Serena took out her frustrations on the judge – complete with a profanity-lace verbal assault that included this qualified threat: ‘I swear to God, if I could, I would take this f***king ball and shove it down your f***king throat… Do you hear me!’
(“Serena Snaps … at U.S. Open,” The iPINIONS Journal, September 15, 2009)
She lost … it.
This is why I hope I can be forgiven unnerving flashbacks after Serena lost a truly hard-fought, heartbreaking second set. Especially when she began blaming the swirling wind and her racket (given the way she tossed it in disgust at one point) for causing her to lose a big lead, which made a straight-set victory seem assured.
Not to mention how having another foot fault called against her could have been the fuse to set her off and cause her to lose (it) again.
But she not only regained her composure, she upped her game to a level never seen in women’s tennis – easily finishing off a seemingly formidable Vika 6-1.
This is why I have renewed hope that, unlike Tiger Woods, she will truly rewrite the record books in her sport.
I fully expected Venus and Serena to do to the records in women’s tennis what Tiger Woods has done (and is doing) to the records in golf.
Alas, they have not. In fact, of the 43 Grand Slam titles that have been up for grabs since they turned pro in 1998, Venus has won only 7 and Serena 11. By comparison, in less than half that time – from 2004 to 2008 – Justine Henin won 7 titles. And at 29 and 27, respectively, it seems a pipe dream that either Venus or Serena will ever surpass Steffi Graf’s feat of winning 22 titles, let alone Margaret Court’s 24.
(“Serena…Triumphs at Wimbledon,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 6, 2009)
Hail Serena!
NOTE: I suspect I’m not the only one who thought Venus would be the Williams sister to seal their legacy. But ever since she was struck with Sjögren’s syndrome, an incurable autoimmune condition, a few years ago, she has been barely a shadow of her old self on the court. She flamed out in the second round of this tournament.
Related commentaries:
Serena triumphs…
Serena snaps…
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Sunday, at 9:54 pm