Strong-willed Williams rises to the top again
WIMBLEDON — Not every comeback story has a happy ending.
On Saturday, Serena Williams made sure hers did.
Shaking off the nerves as she neared the finish line and fending off a determined charge from under- theweather opponent Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the 30-year-old American prevailed 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in a surprisingly competitive Wimbledon ladies’ singles final.
It was only the third major women’s final out of the last 24 not to be decided in straight sets.
A year ago, Williams was just returning to action here after a nightmare year during which she had two foot surgeries, a blood clot, a pulmonary embolism and other issues that, for someone less determined at the same late stage of her career, might have signalled the end.
Instead, she returned in the best shape of her life and, though the last nine months, played extremely well — in spurts. After a first-round loss at the French Open to Virginie Razzano in May that shocked and devastated her and a rather nervy, slug- gish start here, the Serena Express picked up enough steam to claim the Venus Rosewater dish for the fifth time. She tied her sister Venus, who was in the stands with tears in her eyes, with five. Williams now has 14 major titles; there’s no reason she can’t add to that total.
“Are you kidding? The U.S. Open, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon 2013, The Championships,” she said. “It’s the beginning of a great phase. You know, I feel amazing out there. This whole tournament I felt real- ly great physically. So I think it’s definitely the beginning of something great. I hope it is.”
Seemingly on her way to a straight-set loss, Radwanska wasn’t quite ready to hand it over. “She started playing excellent grass court tennis, getting a lot of balls back, and I panicked a little bit and I shouldn’t have,” Williams said of her opponent.
The emotions were palpable on the court when it was over. It isn’t often Williams falls, overcome with emotion, to the court after a big victory. More often than not, she just jumps up and down with joy.
She did that as well. But her journey back, remembering the nights she spent in the hospital with a tube draining fluid out of her stomach as sister Isha, physiotherapist Ester Lee and public-relations aide and friend Val Vogt sleeping over in rather cramped quarters, brought out some rare public tears.