If I ever say farewell, I wouldn’t tell anyone
TEARFUL SERENA SPARKS QUIT FEARS AFTER OSAKA DEFEAT
THE late submission to Naomi osaka, the lingering look at the Rod Laver arena before walking off, the fleeing of her press conference in tears.
Where once Serena Williams gave off a faintly intimidating air there was, instead, a sense of vulnerability as she departed the australian open.
There will be an american in tomorrow’s women’s final but it will be the relatively obscure figure of jennifer Brady.
as she enters the final phase of her career, 39-year-old Williams has to accept that, since she last won a Grand Slam four years ago, a younger generation have arrived who do not fear her.
osaka seems to relish the challenge, as evidenced in a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The 23-year-old now faces the late-blooming Brady, who beat fellow outsider karolina Muchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
if Williams loses her composure in a press conference, it is usually because she has been angered by something.
This time it was down to sadness and disappointment, triggered by a gentle inquiry about her future. ‘if i ever say farewell, i wouldn’t tell anyone,’ she responded.
Williams choked up when asked about her self-confessed surfeit of unforced errors: ‘i don’t know... i’m done,’ she said as she got up to leave.
These are unlikely to be her last words as a competitive player.
Her improved movement, showcased in the previous round against Simona Halep, suggested that if the stars align she could still be a threat at Wimbledon, where she is so familiar with the terrain.
However, it must be possible that the documentary crew following her around this year will be recording her valedictory season.
Whatever her thought processes going forward, they could well be similar to those of Roger Federer, who was born less than two months before her.
Neither will wish to tarnish themselves by continually losing to lesser players, although that has hardly happened here with Williams. osaka has shown again that on hard courts, she is the best player in the world.
Those who know Federer best believe that he will continue on into next year, assuming he is clear of the knee issues that have been dogging him. Williams may go on too, although a significant potential factor would be the desire to have another child. When she came back after giving birth to olympia in September 2017, it seemed only a matter of time before she equalled Margaret court’s record of 24 Grand Slams.
in the 11 majors she has played since, she reached four finals and two semi-finals.
an impressive tally, but on the biggest occasions there is always someone ready to take her down. The presence of a modest crowd, as Melbourne was reprieved from its latest lockdown, was not enough to fire her up for the bizarre conclusion to the match.
osaka double-faulted three times to see the match levelled at 4-4 in the second set, but Williams conceded the next eight points to hand the result on a platter.
it is hard to believe she would wish to depart big-time tennis on that faintly embarrassing note.
The other semi-final was a much better contest.
Remarkably, Brady was one of those forced into full lockdown upon arrival in australia due to a positive test on her flight.
She was not allowed out of her room to practise for two weeks.
a former college player who quit UcLa to turn pro, she is clearly the resourceful type.
Yet she does not have the class of osaka, the american-reared japanese player, who has won all three of the hard court Grand Slam finals she has played.