En a scene from the Oscar-winning film ‘The Williams Method‘, Richard addresses a Serena who seems to have ‘a piece of trash in her soul’ as he said Mafalda before the media display -and family, that in those times and for her both things were the same- centered on a Venus who trained as much and as hard as she did, but whose success came earlier: “Venus is going to be the best tennis player, but you will be the best of all time. There will not be another like you“, he tells her. Real or fiction? Well, considering that the sisters participated in the productionmaybe there was something to it. And of course, the ‘prediction’ was accurate. Serena Williams lost 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1 to Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open to end his legendary career.
“There are many things I can be remembered for. For example The struggle. I’m a fighter. I think I have given, and continue to give, something to tennis. My intensity and obviously the passion, is a very beautiful word. I have continued despite the ups and downs. I am very grateful for these moments and for being Serena,” she said at the post-match press conference.
The world of tennis, and of sport, is very suitable for discussions about whether this or that is The best in history. They are, in fact, unsolvable questions because it is impossible to compare generations taking for granted, moreover, the fact that any current athlete is ‘better’ in terms of physique and has at his disposal better materials of all kinds, medical and technical, than their predecessors.
However, if we look at the fact that Serena’s career Williams has encompassed four decades (since her debut in 1995, losing 6-1, 6-1 to Anne Miller until this US Open), which has faced several generations, which is who has won the most Grand Slam tournaments in the Open Era (of the 24 at Margaret Court, 13 were prior to 1968, although this data is not as significant in women’s tennis as in men’s) and that her career only lacks that Grand Slam that Steffi Graf conquered in 1988, it can be well recognized that Serena Williams has plenty of arguments to enter that much-hyped discussion.
Withdrawal of Serena Williams: initial suspicions and snares
In the hour of goodbye, everything is praise and congratulations. However, in its early days it was difficult for them to see each other recognized by the world of tennis. The racism The USA of the 90s was not the one of the 40s or 50s, when they would not have been directly allowed to play, but they had to endure the plot as constant allusions that his style was ‘little girly‘ (same as happened with Navratilova) as well as its appearance muscular -“the Williams brothers” a certain amount of stupid called them- or echoes were perceived about the type of training to which they had been subjected in those years in which their father decided that they would not play junior tournaments, looking for cowardly ‘explanations’ (no one had the courage to throw the stonenot even hiding his hand, although some echo could be perceived) to the power physique they displayed. It was also said that Richard, who put on a ‘show’ in the stands at each match of his daughters, controlled the results between the two but, as we know, it remained at the level of rumorology.
Serena debuted, it is said, in 1995, at the age of 14, but it was not until 1999 when she began to attend the finals. And she did it overwhelmingly. In that penultimate year of the 20th century, in which Steffi Graf said goodbye, Martina Hingis received a correction from the German in the Roland Garros final, and Mónica Celestial y Jennifer Capriati struggled to return, Serena won her first title in the Gas of Francethe winter ‘indoor’ of Paris, and continued in the then ‘damn’ Indian Wells, in Los Angeles, in the US Open and in the then existing Grand Slam Cup.
That year, between the two they won 11 of the 49 appointments on the calendar. On July 8, 2002, Serena Williams reached number 1 in the world for the first time. She would be for the last time in May 2017. That 2002 she conquered Roland Garros and Wimbledon for the first time. The Australian Open would come in 2003: the first Grand Slam of her career. She has three, and two in doubles.
what was that unfeminine style what was he talking about? Perhaps she was referring to their wearing, for the first time, the service to about 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour, that they anticipated hitting the ball or that each of their shots, supported by that physical power, looked for the ‘winner’ in a permanent offensive. And certainly, if any of those features had been seen before, not with the intensity with which Serena and Venus played. Was that a defect? Not for them and not for tennis, as we see now, either.
Serena’s career was stronger than Venus’s. At the time of goodbye, the youngest of the sisters adds 73 titles, of which 23 are Grand Slam. Venus was left at ‘only’ 49, with seven ‘big ones’. And it was inevitable that this longevity and sports efficiency would create a school. Before Serena’s racket players like Hingis, Pierce, Capriati, Henin, Myskina, Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Clijsters, Mauresmo, Ivanovic, Kvitova, Stosur, Azarenka, Na Li, Stosur, Bartoli, Kerber, Muguruza, Stephens, Ostapenko, Halep, Osaka, Barty o Swiatek: three or four generations of tennis players and, behind it, there is a very different women’s circuit from the one that arrived. In the early 1990s there was a very clear distinction between the ‘top 5’, more or less, and the rest: surprises were very rare. Now, on the contrary, what is difficult is that some forecast is fulfilled. Women’s tennis has been much equalized and it does not seem that precisely below, as the eternal critics say: the fundamental factor, now, is trust and competitiveness and in that the example of Serena Williams has a lot to say.
Serena Williams Retirement: Illnesses and Injuries
Serena has been at the forefront for 20 of the 27 years of career that will record. Has suffered injuries and illnesses -a pulmonary embolism and coagulation problems during the delivery of her daughter, which put her life at risk. He won the 2018 Australian Open two months pregnant, by the way- but neither for them nor for his rivals has he allowed himself to be dominated. The only thing that an athlete like her has withdrawn, as she will spend on her day with Rafael Nadal: age, which defeats us all. The physical, lastly. And yes: she has been, until now, the last female tennis dominator. Behind her, she leaves a circuit immersed in a war of all against all in which, for the moment, only Iga Swiatek he sticks his head out with some regularity.
There is an opinion that this state of affairs is not positive for women’s tennis. what a leaderor at least a stable group of fighters for leadership, promotes the spread of sport. Maybe so, but that’s not Serena’s problem. She has been, in effect, a leader, she has favored women’s tennis and has also changed it. Perhaps in the future, in a few seasons or the day after tomorrow, that predominant player will emerge that some miss but, of course, it will be very difficult for her significance to come close to that of Serena Williams.
