Serena Williams defeated Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-4 to win Wimbledon, the 21st grand slam title in her illustrious career…
At this year’s U.S. Open, which begins in six weeks, she will attempt to win all four majors in the same calendar year, a feat not achieved since Steffi Graf did it in 1988.
Williams now sits just behind Graf (who won 22) in total Grand Slam titles in the open era of tennis.
(Huffington Post, July 11, 2015)
Truth be told, I was almost more impressed by Serena’s post-match interview than I was by her on-court play.
With respect to her play, she flirted with an epic choke. Specifically, Serena was leading 6-4, 5-1, and serving for the match. So anyone who knows anything about Tennis would’ve been forgiven for thinking at this point that it was just a matter of minutes before the umpire announced that now-familiar phrase, game, set, match, Miss Williams: 6-4, 6-1.
Instead, she let Garbiñe break her serve … twice to win three consecutive games, bringing the second set to an improbable 5-4, before Serena regained her composure and broke back to win it 6-4. Incidentally, the timely aces she served throughout this match (12 in all) were instrumental, especially considering that they amounted to the exact number of points she appeared to give away during those three consecutive games.
But this flirtation was particularly noteworthy for the way she maintained her composure. This is the same Serena, after all, who became so unnerved by a similar choking episode at the 2009 U.S. Open that she threatened to shove a tennis ball down the throat of an elderly lineswoman for making, what Serena thought, was a bad call.
This brings me to her post-match interview. Wimbledon revels in its reputation as the classiest of the Grand Slams – complete with its all-white dress code and preening royal box. But nothing was classier at this year’s tournament than the way Serena reveled in victory:
First she endeared herself by jumping and pirouetting center court with unbridled joy. Then she thanked the appreciative fans and acknowledged her vanquished opponent with such charm, eloquence, and magnanimity, you’d think she were the most regal person to ever grace the All England Tennis Lawn and Croquet Club with her presence.
Okay, so perhaps it was a bit much to see her carrying her winner’s tray around on her head, the way African women carry their laundry baskets (and practically everything else)….
Still, I couldn’t be happier for and prouder of her.
The Serena Slam [winning all four Grand Slam titles in a row] is one of the most amazing feats in sports, but some people are boring and like to pretend winning all four grand slam titles in a calendar year is any more impressive….
(SB Nation, July 11, 2015)
Whatever the case, here’s to Grand Slams 22, 23, 24 … and undisputed acclaim as the greatest female player of all time.
Mind you, given the way advertisers are lavishing lucrative endorsements on Maria Sharapova, you’d think she were the one chasing this history. In fact, she’s heading into the sunset of her career still chasing after her sixth Grand Slam….
Serena is clearly too classy these days to complain about this egregious (and arguably racist) oversight, which is all the more admirable considering the tens of millions of dollars it represents. But the rest of us should.
Related commentaries:
Wimbledon “all-white”…
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