Bill Simons
“My passions were all gathered together like fingers that made a fist. Drive is considered aggression today; I knew it then as purpose.” – Bette Davis
Serena Williams, the most dramatic player tennis has ever given us, is a gift. A single Serena match may offer hints of King Lear, Hamlet or The Taming of the Shrew. On Tuesday, an LA fan asked, “Why does she torture us so?” And that was after she won.
Serena may be one of America’s most compelling divas since Mae West. And, even more than Suzanne Lenglen, she’s the greatest sports diva ever. A singular force of nature, for decades she has zig-zagged back and forth between jaw-dropping triumphs that defy logic and shattering losses that humble the spirit testing her soul and ours.
No woman has ever flexed her muscles, imposed her will, shared her flaws, foibles and gifts and swept through the game and our culture quite like Ms. Serena.
On a red carpet, at a royal wedding or in a catsuit on Ashe Stadium, she compels like an old-school movie star. We can’t take our eyes off her. And she’s still center stage. She may be tennis’ answer to Hollywood’s Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who soared to fame only to see their youthful allure and studio power inevitably fade. Unable to replicate their early triumphs, they brushed aside the rather ruthless realities of life’s ticking clock and the sometimes cruel wounds of time. Virtually to the end, they prevailed magnificently.
Davis told us, “If everybody likes you, you’re not doing it right.” To her, “Getting old is not for sissies.” After all, she reasoned, “There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne.” In the end she confided, “I want to die with my high heels on, still in action.”
Serena’s shoes of choice may be Nikes, but she’s still very much in action and, certainly she’ll long be a valued voice in American life.
*****
During the pandemic break, tennis stars followed divergent paths. Rafa ventured to the sea in his yacht. Naomi Osaka worked to overcome her shyness. Andy Murray sought to be more patient. Novak Djokovic did everything from reading bedtime stories to hosting a COVID spreader event. Serena became a Bible student. Probably she reviewed the oldest book in the Bible – Job.
There, God repeatedly challenges the upright and virtuous elder with one devastating test after another. Job comes to rue the day he was born, but he still praises God and goes on. Serena, too, praises God and plays on, even though no player has faced more trials. She has endured the murder of her stepsister, Venus’ chronic illness, her parents’ divorce, painful breakups, and, when she was a teen, howling crowds. She shattered her foot on a glass, nearly died from an embolism and endured a life-threatening childbirth.
Just this week, she narrowly avoided an embarrassing loss to the lowly ranked Dutchwoman, No. 72 Arantxa Rus. It took 2:49 and set the table for Wednesday’s indigestion, her problematic, angst-filled 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 loss to Greece’s Maria Sakkari, the No. 13 seed. Rarely has tennis been tougher to chew on. ESPN contended Serena’s effort was a “semi-tank.”
Williams said, “It’s hard to play the way I’ve been playing and stay positive. To play nine hours in a week is too much…It’s all new for me… I literally should have won that match. There was no excuse…I had so many opportunities to win. I have to figure…how to start winning those matches again.”
Serena added that she had the match won and then her legs got more and more tired. She observed, “I literally put myself in this situation…It’s like dating a guy that you know sucks. That’s literally what I keep doing out here. It’s like I have got to get rid of this guy. It just makes no sense. It’s frustrating.”
Williams’ provocative comment about continuing to date a guy who sucks brought to mind a curious turning point in her career. In 2002 she was so pissed at being dumped by LaVar Arrington, the former linebacker on Washington’s NFL team, that she set out to show him a thing or two and promptly scored the fabled Serena Slam, winning four majors in a row.
But now, as we see the most important sportswoman of this era struggling, her world seems defined by major questions.
1 CAN SHE DO IT? Serena faltered when she was trying to equal the mark for the most Slams won by an American. But she finally won her 18th major. For the past three years she’s been struggling to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Slam titles. Four times she’s reached finals, and almost tasted glory – only to fall. Rarely has a great champion come so close. Her backers say she could equal and break Court’s fabled mark by October 11. Skeptics counter that the 38-year-old just can’t win seven matches in a row. Can she? That, along with who will be the GOAT in men’s tennis are the two most compelling questions in the game.
2 TOUGHEST FIGHTER: Is Serena the fiercest fighter in sports since Michael Jordan? Even in defeat Serena saved seven match points against Sakkari. Then again, we like our battlers to win.
3 IS ANY OTHER ATHLETE TOUGHER ON HERSELF? Time and again she draws on her inner Andy Murray and seems to rage against herself.
4 WHY CAN’T SHE CLOSE? Serena’s feats astound. But it’s rarely simple. She’s still seeking Court’s record. All five of her matches since returning this summer have gone three sets. Is she wrestling with some sort of doubt? Serena said, “I’ve just got to start learning how to win big points...If I could just focus on how to win that one point, that would be better.” In sports, belief is essential. Deep within, does Serena believe she deserves to win?
5 GOOD LOSS: Was her collapse against Sakkari actually a good thing? She was up 7-6, 5-3. But maybe there’s no reason to get excited. Optimists note that Serena usually doesn’t play the week before a Slam. Now she can rest and practice right in New York. And she’s the best revenge player in tennis history. We could see some ferocity. She’ll be motivated.
6 RISING OCEAN: Are time and the young WTA field catching up? So often Serena, who will be 39 next month, faces young guns, with fresh legs and fierce ambitions. Everyone wants to be able to tell their grandkids they whipped the GOAT. The last 13 women’s Slams have been won by 11 different women. The average age of the last six Slam champs is 22.8 years. In the past two US Open finals, Serena fell to youngsters Bianca Andreescu and Naomi Osaka. Brad Gilbert said, “Any of 30 women could win the Open.” The WTA forest is teaming with young, fierce foes.
7 THE SOUND OF SILENCE: Serena loves the roar of the crowd and New York loves to roar for their Serena. Just ask Naomi Osaka. How much does this year’s oddly disassociated, fan-less void affect an artist who loves the throng?
8 NEW BLOOD: Patrick Mouratoglou’s is the greatest coaching success story of the century. He heads a vastly impactful academy, turned around Serena’s career on a Euro dollar, led her to ten of her Slams, and has been key for Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff and others. His insights astound and he is family to Serena. But last night, in the heat of the battle he sat mute. Maybe queen Williams wants it that way. But could a coaching change help?
9 SCAR TISSUE: Does mother superior and super celebrity Serena have just too much on her plate? Has this wondrous survivor just gone through too much on and off the court? And God knows how anyone can pull off being a mother and a successful elite athlete. Serena has won an impressive six US Open titles. But last night’s collapse was yet another New York nightmare. In 2004 she suffered four wretched line calls against Jennifer Capriati that led to USTA apologies and Hawkeye. In 2009, against Kim Clijsters, she roared furiously when she was called for a debatable foot-fault at crunch time. In the 2011 final against Sam Stosur, her comeback was derailed when she got a sketchy call for hindrance. In 2018 there was the most tumultuous match in WTA history, her explosive final against Osaka. New York is challenging for many, including Serena.
10 DARE WE MENTION THE “R” WORD? Serena’s Serena. She’s done everything. She’s filled the game with thrills and changed it forever. But she’s a mother, and she’s not young. Some even ask in hushed whispers, “Should she just step aside and enjoy?”
11 GOAT FOREVER? All but the most zealous Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova fans say Serena’s the GOAT. And, in an age of WTA player parity, unless Coco Gauff or some future phenom who’s still under the radar steps up big time, Serena could retain her GOAT-dom for decades.
12 IMAGINE: God forbid what tennis would have been like without Serena and her older sister. And what if Serena dusts off her recent shock loss and scores a victory at the US Open that might, may we suggest, be just enough to widen Bette Davis’ fabled eyes.
