Serena
So here’s to Venus – the most athletic, graceful, intelligent and poised player ever in women’s Tennis (and the most articulate too)!
Now, if she can only get her little sister Serena to spend less time in nightclubs and pastry shops and more on the tennis courts, they could still fulfill their promise of sharing all grand slam titles between them for years to come…
(“Venus Wimbledon Champion … Again!” The iPINIONS Journal, July 4, 2005)
As this quote attests, I fully expected the Williams sisters to dominate the grand slams in Tennis (i.e., the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open) the way Tiger was dominating the majors in Golf. But I never expected Serena to end up winning twice as many of these highly coveted titles as Venus. Yet she has.
Serena won her fifth Wimbledon title yesterday – defeating Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 and displaying the invincible form that had me waxing so hopeful about Venus seven years ago. She now has 14 grand slams; Venus 7.
This win was all the more impressive when one considers that a leg injury and a pulmonary embolism forced Serena out of the game for over a year (from summer 2010 to summer 2011).
I remain mindful, however, that Serena still trails Steffi Graf with 22, as well as Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova each with 18. Which constrains me to repeat:
Frankly, 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 slams 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. 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.
(“Serena and Roger Triumph at Wimbledon,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 6, 2009)
Indeed, now aged 30, and with more injuries looming, it seems almost as doubtful that, with 14 grand slams, Serena will even surpass Chris/Martina’s 18 as it is that Tiger, with 14 majors, will surpass Jack Nicklaus’ 18. (The symmetry/coincidence here is pretty interesting, eh.)
Nevertheless, it would be remiss of me not to challenge (White) America to explain why Serena is not more celebrated – complete with the kinds of lucrative commercial endorsements that made athletes like Mary Lou Retton national icons.
After all, not only is she the most charismatic and personable player in all of women’s professional sports, she’s also the most successful in terms of career earnings; she has won two Olympic gold medals for the USA; and no less a sports authority than John McEnroe made this unassailably bankable observation just yesterday:
I’ve seen them all, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert was a machine… Monica Seles, Steffi Graf but I believe we’re watching the greatest female player that’s ever played this game.
(BBC, July 7, 2012)
For commercial purposes, all of this should render completely insignificant any goodwill she might have lost because of two notorious McEnroe-style outbursts against courtside officials. So where’s the love, America?!
Meanwhile, after getting knocked out in the opening round this year, Venus enjoyed some consolation when she and Serena won their fourteenth doubles title just hours after Serena’s singles victory. They are expected to defend their gold medal at the London Olympics in a few weeks.
Finally, I’m on record declaring my preference for women’s Tennis. However, with the women not only looking but playing (and even grunting) more like the men these days, that preference is becoming a distinction without a difference.
In fact, the testicular grunting in the women’s game is now decibels above what we hear in the men’s. It has become so off putting that even die-hard feminists like Martina and Billie Jean King are applauding the Women’s Tennis Association for announcing – appropriately enough at this most genteel of all grand slams – “a campaign to stop the excessive grunting” and return to the days of more ladylike … purrs.
Former female champions clearly proved that there’s no positive correlation between grunting and winning. Therefore, I support this campaign.
Roger
Roger’s victory was far more significant than Serena’s because, with it, he broke Pete Sampras’s record for the most grand slam singles titles [14] in men’s tennis history. To his credit, Pete seemed content and gracious as he watched Roger do so from his perch in the Royal Box.
Accordingly, I am now obliged to concede that Roger [not Pete] is the best tennis player in history. Not least because, as Roger made clear yesterday, he fully expects to pad his grand slam record [of 15] in the years to come.
(“Serena and Roger Triumph at Wimbledon,” The iPINIONS Journal, July 6, 2009)
Well, it’s déjà vu all over again. Because, even though his victory this year is not necessarily more significant, Roger was crowned king of Wimbledon today matching him again with queen Serena – just as both reigned in 2009.
What’s more, as anticipated, Roger duly padded his grand slam record by adding another at the Australian in 2010, which means that he now has 17 (seven of them at this most prestigious of all grand slams).
Remarkably enough, though, Roger was/is not the story. For going into today’s final, all anyone in the media was reporting on or talking about was the prospect of his opponent Andy Murray becoming the first Briton to win this British grand slam since 1936 (a Cubs-like losing streak of 76 years). Alas, like a good Brit, he gave it a good try but came up short, losing in four sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
Never mind that, had he won, all of my Scottish friends would have prevailed upon me to point out that, even though Wimbledon is played at the All England Club, Andy is in fact Scottish, not English.
Related commentaries:
Venus Wimbledon Champion…
Serena and Federer triumph at Wimbledon…
* This commentary was originally published yesterday, Sunday, at 3:08 pm