Can ‘stop’ stop Serena Williams?

20 finals, 16 grand slams and 4 runner-ups, and a win rate of 0.79. The records speak for themselves. Playing like it’s her last game always, hitting shots comparable to a bullet train and making her opponent’s chances of winning as minute as an atom, is Serena Williams. A question that lurks in every tennis watcher’s mind when she comes out on court is “Who can stop Serena Williams?”. But I’d say, the more apt question would be “Can ‘stop’ stop Serena Williams?”.

Each time she plays a match, there is a display of sheer passion, control and skill. Maria Sharapova—the No. 2 player in the world and last year’s French Open winner—has lost to Williams the last 12 times they faced and has only won two times in 15 chances. Victoria Azarenka—the No. 3 player in the world—beat Williams in February. It was the last time Williams was defeated, however, and she’s won 12 of the 14 matches between the two. No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska has never beaten Williams in four previous attempts and she stood no chance of victory earlier this year in the semi -finals at Miami nor did she even make it to the finals of Roland Garros this year.

There is a reason why she is World no. 1 and yesterday’s Roland Garros final match validates Serena’s dominance.  11 years after her first triumph, here is Serena Williams once again winning the French Open, as she surged past the defending champion Maria Sharapova comfortably with a 6-4 6-4. Sharapova threw everything she could at her to overturn her 12-match losing run against Williams. But if Sharapova was going to make her claim to defend her crown, it really had to be here to put Williams under pressure from the start.