Serena eyes final curtain of tennis reign
How will we remember Serena Williams when her career records are totaled, which she hinted Tuesday, soon to turn 41, might not be long off?
More than Venus’ younger sister (by one year), daughters of Oracene and Richard, the latter played to a fare-thee-well by Will Smith in an Oscar-winning performance last year, however stormy his moment on the awards stage with contemporary Chris Rock?
Some will remember Serena for an on-court incident in the 2018 U.S. Open, where she called the chair umpire a “thief” after receiving code violations that swung the decision to Naomi Osaka. Goodness knows that John McEnroe, for my money America’s greatest male tennis champion, had more than his share of on-court dust-ups.
Serena has won her country’s national title six times, most recently in 2014. A seventh crown on that stage would tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Court played when the big four events (Australian, French, Wimbledon and American) were limited to amateurs, a curtain not lifted until 1968.
“There are people who say I’m not the GOAT because I didn’t pass Margaret Court’s record,” Serena said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that record. Obviously I do. But day to day, I’m really not thinking about her.”
Believe that, if you will.. Then convince yourself that Tiger Woods, with 15 major championships, doesn’t dwell on Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 every day. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, in their epic homerun duel of 1998 (no matter how performance aided that might have been), knew whose records they were chasing, the 60 of Babe Ruth in 1927 and then the 61 of Roger Maris in 1961.
More and more, that is how greatness is determined in professional sports, by championships won. Think LeBron James doesn’t know that Michael Jordan has two more NBA championships (six to four) than himself?
Whether one wishes not to anoint Serena Williams as the greatest American women’s tennis player requires a little more aplomb.
Billie Jean King and Chris Evert are that hard to shake from one’s memory, though King’s greatest moments may have come as an activist. No match of Serena’s carried more clout than King’s 1973 demolition of Bobby Riggs at the Astrodome. The battle of the sexes, they called it, with Riggs, a past Wimbledon champion, providing most of the sound bytes but King scoring the most points in a match ABC (with Howard Cosell reporting) televised nationally.
Christine Marie Evert will be remembered for projecting a wholesome image, however much she might have chafed at the prospect, and some hammer-and-tongs struggles with Martina Navratilova. Evert may have won more titles with less weapons than any major champion, relying on her baseline game while not blessed with a killer serve. Her personal life made headlines — engagement to fellow tennis star Jimmy Connors and marriages to British tennis player John Lloyd, downhill skier Andy Mill and golf champion Greg Norman. It gives me pause to think that Chris, 68 in December, and I are the same age.
Serena played long enough to escape sister Venus’ considerable shadow and, at her best, played a complete game the sport may never see again. She became an advertising pitchwoman for several major products, one whose presence, I think, was welcome in most households.
This is written in the wake of Serena’s first victory on Monday since the 2021 French Open. “I’m just happy to get a win. It’s been a very long time, I forgot
what that felt like,” she said after the match in Toronto, followed by a second-round loss Wednesday.
Vogue magazine, made famous in song by Madonna, broke the story Tuesday that Serena is hinting at retirement, giving strong clues with the comment, “I’m going to relish these next few weeks.”
The pleasure has been ours. Serena, an American champion (born in Saginaw, Michigan, whose formative years were spent in the Los Angeles suburb Compton), will be remembered here as a tremendous warrior whom it took one’s best effort to overcome. Still, Sports Illustrated should have named American Pharoah, horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, Sportsman of the Year in 2015, and not Serena after a near Grand Slam season.