Serena looking to surpass Graf
HISTORY MAKER
American tennis ace seeks Grand Slam No. 23 at U.S. Open.
Despite everything that Serena Williams has won and done, her sense of self can still fluctuate based on the outcome of a particular tennis match.
Doesn’t always seem to matter that she owns a record-tying 22 major singles titles heading into the U.S. Open, which begins Monday with a retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time.
Not necessarily a big deal to her that she’s spent the past 3½ years entrenched at No. 1 and is the oldest woman ever to top the WTA rankings. And there are times when the 34-year-old American basically forgets that she transcends her sport and has become a cultural icon away from the tennis court.
Williams is devastated when she is dealt a setback, such as last year’s “Did that really happen?!” loss to Roberta Vinci in the U.S. Open semifinals, ending an attentiongrabbing, pressure-piling bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam by anyone in more than a quartercentury. Williams acknowledges she measures herself constantly.
“Unfortunately, I definitely do, which I don’t think is normal. I definitely feel like when I lose, I don’t feel as good about myself,” she said.
“But then I have to, like, remind myself that: ‘You are Serena Williams!’ You know? Like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Williams continued, laughing and leaning forward. “And it’s those moments that I have to just, like, come off and be like, ‘Serena, do you know what you’ve done? Who you are? What you continue to do, not only in tennis, (but also) off the court? Like, you’re awesome.’ That really just shows the human side of me. I’m not a robot.”
She is at the stage of her career where history is in the offing nearly every time a racket is in her right hand. So while the stakes are different from what they were at Flushing Meadows in 2015, Williams does have something significant to play for yet again.
After equalling Steffi Graf for the most Grand Slam titles in the professional era (which dates to 1968) by winning Wimbledon last month, Williams now can break that tie by earning No. 23 in New York. Only Margaret Court owns more major singles trophies, with 24, but more than half of that total came against amateur competition. “One thing I learned about last year is to enjoy the moment,” Williams said. “I’m definitely going to enjoy this.”
Good thing, too, because not everything has gone smoothly since that most recent triumph. Slowed by a bothersome right shoulder, Williams lost in the third round of singles and first round of doubles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics — she was a 2012 gold medallist in both events — and then pulled out of a hard-court tune-up event in Ohio.
Williams is assured of remaining at No. 1 until the end of the U.S. Open, which brings her streak to 186 weeks straight, tying another Graf mark. Depending on what happens in the tourney, Williams could be overtaken in the rankings by No. 2 Angelique Kerber (who beat Williams in the Australian Open final in January), No. 3 Garbine Muguruza (who beat Williams in the French Open final in June) or No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska.