By Matthew Cronin
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o one knows how well Serena Williams is capable of playing in her comeback — not
even the diva herself.
Williams is hopeful, but the take-a-deep-bow bravado she was famous for during
her heyday has taken on a softer tone. In the couple of days she took the court
at the JPMorgan Chase Open in L.A., her wavering voice and downcast eyes betrayed
a 24-year-old who is a little unsure about her future.
She says she's motivated, but for what, exactly?
"If I wasn't hungry, I wouldn't be playing, because I've
done enough to be able to retire," she said. "But that's
never what I wanted."
Saddled with a bad left knee and an ambivalent attitude as to whether she wanted
to continue to fight the good fight, Williams fell out of the top 100 in July
and needed a wildcard to get into the U.S. Open — a tournament she took
by storm on two separate occasions.
She hasn't won a tournament since the '05 Aussie Open (20 months
ago) and has only played five tournaments during the past year.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been the most dominant player of her
generation, but has largely checked out the last three years. It's hard
to find another player, coach, official or fan who is convinced that she's
on the tour to stay again.
Not when she's become a regular on the L.A. and New York party circuit
and let herself get terribly out of shape. Not when, during the past two years,
her eyes have lit up more discussing the bit parts she has gotten as a part-time
actress than her biggest Slam titles. Not when she 's entered countless
tournaments only to pull out.
"If she wants to come back, she will be competitive," said sixth-ranked
Elena Dementieva. "It's all about desire and concentration. She
has everything to do it, but it's if she really wants to play, or do
something else."
Daniela Hantuchova, who knocked Serena out of the Aussie Open, agrees that
it's up to Williams to show that she still has the desire to compete,
but disagreed with Dementieva, saying that Serena isn't the best player
of her generation.
"She was the best," Hantuchova said. "She had the biggest
serve, the power, the speed. She was consistent. The year when she was winning
all those Grand Slams titles, if she was playing her best, no one could beat
her."
Serena says she does want to play, and at least for the past month, she's
shown desire. But that's this month, not next, and given how spotty her
track record has been, she really has to back up her statements about her commitment
before anyone is going to believe her. When an athlete appears almost weekly
at movie premiers and awards shows grinning ear to ear and wearing daring dresses,
but is rarely competing in her sport, questions arise.
"I love what I do and to hear the crowd roar, but I also like to hear
the word, 'Action,'" Williams said. "It's exciting
to be on court. It gets me pumped up. I love hearing the word 'Action' on
a set, but not as much as competing. I'm really competitive. That's
just my nature. There's nothing better for me than playing tennis."
Serena said she briefly considered retirement during her time off, but said
that's par for the course for an injured superstar. "Every athlete
goes through a stage where they think like that, but at the same time, in the
back of your mind, you know you have to fight through it and never give up.
I love competing, I love winning and I love being on tour, and I knew it was
something that I would get back to."
Serena underwent left knee surgery in August '03, and since then has
only won three of her 26 lifetime titles. Some doctors recommended a second
surgery. Others said "No," and she went with the latter advice.
"My knee never recovered, because I came back way too fast," she
said. "I was taking on a lot. I was playing, but I wasn't mentally
ready and that affected my knee. I needed time to clear my mind. But tennis
is what I like to do best."
But it wasn't just her bad knee that troubled her. There were times she
wasn't sure whether she wanted to continue playing.
"I honestly just needed a mental break. I was going through a lot of
stuff in my life, besides surgery," said Williams. "It was a lot
that not everyone will understand or ever know. Tennis only lasts so long.
Family lasts forever. Happiness lasts forever, and that's what I've
stuck with."
Who knows what her best will be? When she was at the top of her game, she was
nearly unbeatable, winning her much-talked-about "Serena Slam" in '02-'03
(the '03 French Open, '03 Wimby, '03 U.S. Open and '04
Aussie Open in succession). She had a tremendous serve, was one of the fastest
players of all time, was rock solid off the ground and competed as hard as
any legend who has stepped on court.
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But that was a long time ago. After winning her second Wimbledon title over
Venus in '04, she wrecked her knee and was never the same.
This year at the Australian Open, she was a good 25 pounds overweight and played
sloppy tennis in a loss to Hantuchova; in July, she was outstroked by the steady
Vera Zvonareva in the quarters and then at the JPMorgan Chase Open in L.A.,
at presstime, she had reached the third round.
"It's been awfully weird not being able to play most of the year,
especially missing out on [the French Open and Wimbledon]," Serena said. "It's
been very frustrating. But it's cool I've been able to train
without pain."
Serena has been careful with her schedule and said that she actually
could have played Wimbledon, but wasn't 100 percent and didn't
want to embarrass herself. "I could have, but would have had difficult time winning
two or three rounds," said Williams. "I would have been really
straining and pushing too far."
On a hot morning in at the JPMorgan Chase, Serena practiced with her parent-coaches
Richard and Oracene looking on. Her father stood on court and occasionally
offered advice, while her mother watched from a grassy area about 20 yards
away (they are divorced).
Tossing balls high into the air not more than five miles from where she grew
up in Compton, Serena looked in decent rhythm, but her muscles aren't
as sleek and cut as in her prime, and it's hard to see her being able
to run with Clijsters or to consistently trade hard blasts with Sharapova.
But then she took to the court against 11th seed Maria Kirilenko and laid waste
to the quick Russian 6-2, 6-1. It was apparent that Serena had put in some
significant hours on the practice court. She could still stand to lose 10-15
pounds, but she struck the ball with force and clarity. It was hard to quibble
with anything in her game, save for a few points where she looked winded and
a couple of forehands that she dumped into the net.
She served hard and with accuracy, showed off quick-fisted returns
and never backed off from the ground. She found angles, had depth
and, most importantly, ran hard. She's not as fast as she once
was, but she's still quick, and if she can play like that every
night, she's a threat to win any tournament. "I was hitting the ball fairly cleanly and I want to keep
moving forward," Serena said. " My shotmaking ability is much
better."
"I always believed that I could be a better player than I was when I
was playing my best," she said. "I hardly ever come to the net
except to shake hands. There's room for improvement. There are
things to tap into."
Davenport says that Serena looks in better shape than when she
saw her in January, and like some other players, refused to discount
her possibilities. "She's
always going to be dangerous when her mind's into it," Davenport
said. "If she's feeling it, she can win the U.S. Open."
Here's the million-dollar question: If Serena has entered a tournament,
does that mean that she is really into her sport again, or is she still vacillating?
"I don't know," Davenport said. "She's struggled
with so many injuries, she didn't seem that into it, but you
never want to count her out."
Serena cautioned against that too, but if she tweaks her knee prior to the
Open, will she begin a string of pullouts again? Serena says no, that she's
committed to the long haul.
"I've achieved so much, but there is so much more that I would
like," she said.
"I'm really confident or I wouldn't be out here," Serena
said. "I don't see any problems getting back to the top at all.
I agree I can win [the Open], but I don't want to peak too soon.
But I definitely feel I'll be a contender."
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