SHE’S THE GREATEST!
And Serena’s in no mood to retire any time soon after winning a record 23rd Slam
AFTER winning her 23rd Grand Slam title Serena Williams described herself as being ‘Thirty-fun years old’. ‘I keep saying I don’t have anything to lose, and I meant it this time,’ she said, after reaping the dual dividend of returning to world No1 and overtaking Steffi Graf’s open-era record of 22 Slams. This sounds like bad news for the rest of the field, whose only crumb of encouragement is that her real age is 35. Yet, unlike for some of 2016, there has been no sign of waning powers, not when Williams has gone through a fortnight without dropping a set. About the only awkwardness has been the repeated questions about her impending marriage to fiance Alexis Ohanian sometime this year, which she has become deftly skilled at deflecting. ‘I came here and said I don’t want to talk about it until February,’ said Williams, whose future husband was in her support box to watch her sweep away her sister Venus 6-4, 6-4. She namechecked virtually everyone in there, but the poor fellow did not get a mention. As well as her older sibling played here, Venus is unlikely to be the one who prevents Serena from formally overtaking Margaret Court’s overall tally of 24 majors which were, in any case, secured when the currency was somewhat different. Eleven of Court’s haul were Australian Opens collected between 1960 and 1973. That was hardly a mean feat, but back then there was nothing like the international contingent who would make the then achingly long journey to the southern hemisphere. Williams is the greatest of all, and this was the seventh time in the last nine Slams in which she made the final, which does not suggest any slide at all. During the tournament her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, revealed that her camp saw Jo Konta and the Czech Karolina Pliskova as the biggest threats. Konta was swatted out of the way in the quarter-finals and Pliskova went down to 34-year-old Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Angelique Kerber’s form in Australia was way off that of a No1, so who else is there? Three potential challengers were absent — new parent Victoria Azarenka, the banned Maria Sharapova and the injured Petra Kvitova.
None will be much of a danger any time soon while most of the rest of the top 10, such as Garbine Muguruza, do not seem to be improving.
Venus’s reaction was that there will be more to come, due to her sister’s ability to lift her game when needed.
‘I know she’d like to have a little more, who wouldn’t?’ she said. ‘She’s a champion on the court. She knows how to take it to that next level.’
Chris Evert was more specific, saying: ‘I think she will win a lot more over the next three years. What this win will do is propel her to break more records. I don’t see anything stopping her, providing she stays healthy.’
Williams herself claimed she did not want to hear about records during the tournament, and Mouratoglou even told her the white lie that the No1 position was not at stake.
‘When I heard that on court it was like “Wow”,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to stop, I want to keep on going. It’s a great feeling to have 23 [Slams].
‘The great thing about winning Australia is that you have time to enjoy it. If you win the French then you always think it’s Wimbledon coming up.’
This had not been a classic final by any means and it is a tribute to her that the occasions have been far greater in the recent Slams which have seen her lose.
The drama was largely confined to the early stages when the favourite was cloyed by nerves.
British umpire Alison Hughes gave her a code violation in the third game for smashing her racket into the court, but she was unstoppable after breaking for 4-3.
Something will halt her one day, but right now it is looking the person responsible will be herself, or Father Time.
I say I don’t have anything to lose and this time I meant it