The Day The Mighty Serena Struck Out

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Photo by Getty Images

Bill Simons 

We’ve seen it year after year. Every season, at our game’s greatest venues, the script is played out. Call it the greatest quest by the greatest woman athlete ever, the most provocative, poignant chase our sport has ever witnessed. It brings to mind Captain Ahab’s relentless quest to conquer Moby Dick.

Serena Williams is the great lady of the game. Fierce and fine, she’s known for her power and might. Yet time and again she’s failed to claim our game’s greatest record, the most singles Slams won. 

Records are made to be broken, and if ever there was a mark that should be equalled or broken, it’s Margaret Court’s record of 24 singles Slams. The Aussie was a fabulous player, but 11 of her majors were won at the Australian Open, which, back then, only drew modest fields. Plus only 11 of her majors were won in the Open Era.

And, throughout her life, Margaret has been less than heroic off court. She refused to back the pioneering Original Nine, the group who against all odds bravely created the women’s circuit (Court said women shouldn’t get equal pay). After Martina Navratilova scored an historic Wimbledon win, Margaret claimed the American was a bad example for children. Court supported apartheid, and her comments about gay people have been wretched. Writer Flip Bundy called her “a sourpuss.” But her record was certainly fairly gained.

Still, it was presumed that when Serena came back from giving birth in 2017, she would promptly equal Margaret’s mark – “piece of cake.” But Williams’ effort stalled. Then again, it took her four Slams before she equaled Chris Evert’s and Navratilova’s record of 18 Slams won by an American. Certainly, we thought, it would just be a matter of time before she lifted her twenty-fourth major trophy. 

Yet issues lingered. It wasn’t that she was playing poorly. Four times she reached Slam finals, then suffered epic shortfalls. In 2018 in New York she imploded against Naomi Osaka in the most tumultuous final in tennis history. Simona Halep played the match of her life as she dusted Serena at the 2019 Wimbledon, and Canadian youngster Bianca Andreescu dismissed her in straight sets in the 2019 US Open final. More recently, in her last five Slams, Serena hasn’t reached a final, and her clay court season this year was dreary – she won just one of her three matches.

Cosmopolitan Serena speaks French, she loves Paris and at Roland Garros the stars seemed to align. The top three seeds fell, the draw opened, and Serena, looking eager and hitting out, moved with confidence and fought hard as she reached the fourth round. The winner of three French Opens told us that clay is her favorite surface, saying, “The dirt’s so smooth…it’s really just about taking your time and having fun.” Surely she’d have fun in her fourth-round matchup against the Moscow-born Elena Rybakina, who was only playing her second French Open, was seeded No. 21 and hadn’t faced a seeded opponent.

But Elena broke Serena twice in the first set and collected the opener 6-3. “Not to worry,” we thought, as Serena rallied strong, broke serve and edged ahead in the second set. Her Kazakhstani foe looked nervous – who wouldn’t be? As we heard Serena shout her battle cry, “C’mon! C’mon!” we thought she might again unleash one of her epic comebacks. 

Then Rybakina blasted a backhand that was clearly flying out. But somehow the seasoned Williams couldn’t get out of its way. The errant shot hit Serena, and the point automatically went to Rybakina. How humbling. For twelve agonizing seconds the biggest name in women’s sports bent low to the ground. Lost in time, her pose seemed to express the frustration of so many great champions, from Willie Mays to Michael Jordan, who in their twilights lost the dominance that for so long seemed a birthright.

Baseball gave us the epic poem “Casey at the Bat.” Was this moment the tennis equivalent? Who knows what torrents of thought raced through Serena’s mind as she bent low? Soon her counterattack fizzled. She lost eight of the last nine points. Her hopes for a Paris surprise vanished, 6-3, 7-5. 

Afterwards, Serena was philosophical. “It was good to finally get some wins on clay…I am in a much better place than when I got here.” 

To the end, mighty Ahab embraced his quest. So has Serena. Wimbledon is just three weeks away.

FEDERER WITHDRAWS: In the best of times, millions take wonderful summer trips to Paris. And even though he withdrew today, Roger Federer’s French journey was more than worthwhile. He played three challenging matches, including a stern test in an odd, fan-less, late-night environment against Domink Koepfer that lasted 3:35. He tested his body, and, despite some understandable dips, seemed fit. His spirits were good, his knee held up, and now the surface he favors – grass – awaits him. The move made sense for Roger. Still critics argued that once you enter a tourney, you should give your all until you lose. And, of course, the French Open is one of the game’s most storied events and this is a problematic story.

THE COST OF TENNIS WATCHING: A tweet by WTA Tea broke down the cost of tennis watching: “Here is what we currently need to watch tennis…Sling – Tennis Channel ESPN 1,2,3 $46 a month, TC Plus $109.99 annually only, ESPN plus $5.99 a month, Peacock $4.99 a month with ads.” 

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. Wish your previous column had more
    Coverage of the horrific decision by TC to sell off the Saturday Federer match to Peacock Premium (aka “pay”). Violated every promise ever made by TC to its subscribers! Outraged fans like me are without any alternative way to see tennis. Done without prior announcement and clearly sold by TC for the bucks from Peacock (to increase their Premium subscriptions).
    How about some coverage of this catastrophe- it rivals NBC showing Heidi rather than the end of the Jets in ‘68.

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