Hail to 4-time Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams

All Grand Slams in the sport of tennis are not created equal. Because it is undisputed that players regard a championship at Wimbledon – the oldest and most prestigious of the four major championships (the others being the Australian Open, French Open and US Open) – as the crowning achievement of their careers. Indeed, even French players are rumored to have made locker-room confessions about coveting this title more than their own Grand Slam. And Amelie Mauresmo seemed to confirm this last year when she expressed unimaginable joy over winning Wimbledon but was utterly blasé when queried about never winning the French Open.(Although, in response to suggestions that she faces psychosomatic barriers to winning on her home court, Mauresmo should have reminded her critics that Virginia Wade did not win Wimbledon, her own Grand Slam, until her 16th try. After all, she has failed at the French Open only 13 times so far….)

At any rate, this should put into perspective the historic and enviable feat Venus Williams accomplished on Saturday by winning her fourth Wimbledon title 6-4, 6-1 over an ironic and unlikely opponent, Marion Bartoli of France. And in so doing, her name was stenciled on the wall of champions at the storied All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as – appropriately enough – only the fourth woman to win four Wimbledon titles.

But Williams awed fans and players alike with such power, determination and finesse during this year’s tournament that instead of receiving unqualified accolades after her win, she faced a barrage of questions, if not criticisms, about why she hadn’t already won many more Wimbledon titles.

And, truth be told, even I lamented aloud amongst friends in this respect. Because after rising to the top of her game in 2002 (when, at 22, she was ranked No. 1 and was already a 2-time Wimbledon champion), Williams (and her equally-talented sister Serena) seemed more interested in fashion modeling, designing homes and dating men than in playing tennis. (Williams is pictured here with her new man – pro golfer Hank Kuehne.)

However, where I fully expected wealth and celebrity to derail the wannabe movie-star Serena from her career path, I never expected the ostensibly-serene Venus to squander ripe professional opportunities. In fact here, in part, is how I hailed her third Wimbledon title in 2005:

So here’s to Venus – the most athletic, graceful, intelligent and poised player ever in women’s tennis (and the most articulate too)!

Now, if she can only get her little sister Serena to spend less time in nightclubs and pastry shops and more on the tennis courts, they could still fulfill their promise of sharing all grand slam titles between them for years to come.

Alas, Venus spent the next two years struggling to make it just to the semi-finals of a major championship, let alone winning a slew of them….

(To be fair, however, even though she was eliminated in the early rounds at this tournament, Serena was just as impressive in winning the Australian Open earlier this year as Venus, now 27, was in winning Wimbledon on Saturday.)

I was really motivated because no one picked me to win. They didn’t even say, ‘She can’t win. They weren’t even talking about me. [Venus Williams, who was a career-low 23rd seed at Wimbledon this year]

Well, not exactly. In fact, Venus and Serena’s Daddy, Richard Williams, was talking about her a lot. But because he’s such an eccentric, irascible and sociopathic braggart, most people in the tennis world (including his estranged wife) try their best to tune him out.

There can be no denying, however, that Mr Williams has been as shrewd in charting their careers as he has been prescient in predicting their victories. And, true to form, he not only predicted that Venus would win this tournament but also that Serena would falter. (Before the tournament began, he seemed to be playing possum with reporters by declaring that instead of competing – especially against top-seed Justin Henin in the early rounds, Serena should be at home nursing her nagging injuries. Of course, she then faltered just as he predicted she would.)

Therefore, Mr Williams may well have put a de facto hex on other players when he made the following prediction after Venus stunned everyone else by winning her fourth Wimbledon championship:

I think she could be a champion until she’s 34, I really do….As a matter of fact, I’ll tell you something else I believe. I don’t think you’ve seen the best of Venus play yet.

Meanwhile, I’ve been unabashed in expressing my preference for women’s tennis. Because, frankly, the women’s game is not only almost as powerful as the men’s (with Venus hitting 125 mph serves); their fierce baseline strokes during relatively long rallies are also far more exciting  to watch.

Nevertheless, it is arguable that Roger Federer accomplished an equally-historic and even more enviable feat by defeating Rafael Nadal yesterday to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title 7-6 (9/7), 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 6-2. And in so doing, he emulated the legendary Bjorn Borg. But in a related article, in which I attempted to put Andre Agassi’s retirement into perspective, I left no doubt that I think Federer has a way to go to emulate an even greater living legend, Pete Sampras!

(Incidentally, I concede that there were a few exceptional rallies in yesterday’s Federer-Nadal match….)

Finally, I feel obliged to express some ambivalence over the fact that Wimbledon has finally decided to follow the politically correct fashion of other Grand Slams. It too will now award women players equal pay for unequal work. 

But surely any proud (and principled) feminist must take exception. After all, to get equal prize money, women should play the best of five sets like men do, or men should play the best of three sets like women do.

Tennis should follow the politically correct fashion of athletics and triathlons. For example, to earn equal prize money, women must run the same 26.2-mile marathon and complete the same chauvinistically named Iron Man, respectively.

I am mindful, however, that women generate far more fan and commercial interest in the sport (as I proffered, unabashedly, above). Arguably, this warrants them being paid the same amount, if not more, in prize money – despite playing less. And, this is how I choose to resolve my ambivalence.

How about you?

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