Simply the Best
Serena Williams poses with the Daphne Akhurst Trophy after winning the women’s singles final of the Australian Open against sister Venus, 36, yesterday. Serena, 35, won 6-4 6-4 to pass Steffi Graf’s record of 22 grand slam singles titles
SERENA Williams started playing tennis on potholed courts in one of America’s most notorious gangland neighbourhoods, but against the odds she has risen to become arguably the best player in the sport’s history.
Yesterday she pushed sentiment aside in an emotion-charged 6-4 6-4 defeat of sister Venus to win the Australian Open and a record 23rd grand slam title in the professional era.
Tortured by nerves in a tense family affair, Serena had to produce some of her best tennis to overcome Venus, who won the crowd at Rod Laver Arena by scrapping hard to the end.
The American’s seventh title at Melbourne Park was won with an aggressive charge to the net and a desperate defensive backhand from Venus that floated into the tramlines.
It hasn’t been an easy journey in a white-dominated sport steeped in tradition, but Serena has pursued her goals with a determination just as fearsome as the raw power with which she plays her shots.
Strong but also quick, ruthless and fiercely competitive, Williams has been at the top for a generation, since she beat Martina Hingis aged 17 in the 1999 US Open final.
So often she has been more or less unbeatable, and even at the age of 35 she remains the favourite whenever she plays, her capacities not noticeably diminished.
Along the way she has been world No 1 for a total of 309 weeks — a span of nearly six years — and won major titles against some of the greats: Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin and, of VENUS Williams says being in another grand slam final against her sister Serena was “momentous” and despite losing, she was just happy to see her family name on the Australian Open trophy.
The 36-year-old was competing in her 15th major title match and her first since Wimbledon in 2009, but she could do nothing to halt her sister’s march to a record 23rd grand slam crown 6-4 6-4.
Asked if she was disappointed, she replied: “No, because I guess I’ve been here before, you know. I really enjoy seeing the name ‘Williams’ on the trophy. This is a beautiful thing.” Making another big-time final late in her career, after battling back from the energy-sapping Sjogren’s syndrome, which was diagnosed in 2011, was a bonus for Venus. course, her sister Venus.
Venus, 14 months older at 36, is her greatest rival and she can also take much credit for her success, after so many years touring and practising together and encouraging each other.
But it’s a lopsided head-to-head: out of their nine major finals, Serena has won seven and her overall winloss record against her big sister is 17-11.
In a sign of her dominance, Williams has a winning career record against all 14 players she has
And it has only made her want more success, with no plans to slow down, despite holding the record as the oldest finalist at Melbourne Park in the Open era.
“I played against a lot of players who were in form. So it’s a good thing. It’s a great start to the year and I’m looking forward to the rest of year,” she said. “This is like tournament No 2 (after Auckland) and it’s already a lot of work. I’m looking forward to tournament No 3 and No 4. It’s going to be awesome. “I’m ready to kill it this year.” Williams has won seven grand slam finals and has now lost eight.
Nine of her major finals have been against Serena.
Venus recognises that it may not happen again, making the moment even more memorable. — beaten in major finals, including her towering 19-2 over Sharapova.
After surpassing Steffi Graf’s record of 22 major titles in the post1968 Open era yesterday, there’s little else for Williams to achieve, barring Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 which will surely soon be hers.
But don’t bet against the newly engaged Williams, showing a refreshingly carefree spirit this year, also sealing the calendar-year grand slam which narrowly eluded her in 2015.
It’s all a long way from the pitted courts, sometimes missing nets and with gunshots audible nearby, of Compton in Los Angeles, where Williams practised with Venus from the age of five.
The youngest of five daughters was drilled intensely by her father, former sharecropper Richard Williams, who was happy to let schoolchildren hurl insults at his girls as they played.
“In order to be successful you must prepare for the unexpected — and I wanted to prepare for that,” he told CNN in 2015. “Criticism can bring the best out of you.”
Richard and Oracene Williams moved their family to Florida in the early 1990s, seeing their daughters needed more specialist coaching, with Serena already an outstanding junior.
She turned professional in 1995, at the age of just 14.
Two years later, she was in the top 100 and in January 1998 made her grand slam debut, reaching the second round of the Australian Open — where she was beaten by Venus.
It was to kick off a long rivalry, the biggest of either player’s career but also the friendliest, with no question of disharmony even as Serena took control of their head-to-head figures and beat Venus in six major finals.
And so it was fitting that when Serena’s crowning glory came, in the same place where her grand slam career started 19 years earlier, Venus was the first to congratulate her across the net.
“This is a story,” Serena said. “This is something that I couldn’t write a better ending. This is a great opportunity for us to start our new beginning.” — AFP