The rise and rise of Serena Williams: 'Serena'ding fans for 20 years
The tone of the article might sound eulogistic but I must admit that I am a Venus Williams fan before being a Serena fan. There were times when I wanted her to lose against Venus especially in Wimbledon finals but she emerged on top in most meetings.
While you may find a plethora of articles on her game, her strengths, reasons for the longevity of her career, her superb aces and what not but I am writing this article as a tribute to the phenomenon called Serena.
In a sport as demanding and as competitive as tennis, winning at the age of 36 is no joke. Serena might not have been able to win Wimbledon this year but she has already become the most iconic female player of our time. She has earned her place among the all-time greatest players, right next to Pele, Roger Federer, Michael Jordon and Michael Phelps.
Serena along with Venus started the Power Tennis on Women's circuit
The two sisters are credited with setting the stage for power tennis with their thundering serves and powerful groundstrokes. Together they dominated the Grand Slam Finals for many years in the previous decade. Over the years, Venus changed her focus to designing but Serena continued to serenade the fans with her powerful game which often touched perfection.
There were players such as Monica Seles and Mary Pierce who played their kind of tennis but it is them who are credited with ushering in of a new era in women’s tennis. After them, tennis saw the emergence of a new Russian Brigade of ‘Ova’s led by Maria Sharapova who were quite similar to Williams sisters in their game.
Serena appeared on tennis circuit at a time when Martina Hingis was ruling the tennis world with her tactical all-round game. But it was set to change with the appearance of Williams sisters on the stage.
Impeccable records in all formats of the game
Serena has a staggering 23 Grand Slams tucked under her belt, same as Steffi Graff and just one less than Margaret Smith Court. She has also won 12 doubles Grand Slams with her sister Venus making them third most successful doubles team in the female circuit. She has won all major tiles including 72 WTA titles.
She also has 4 Olympic Gold medals to her credit. Her domination is such that she has not lost to Maria Sharapova, another ace player, in last 18 meetings with the Russian in last 11 years.
Over the years Serena has become better at her own game. With years of experience at the topmost level, she is now more sober in her overall attitude. There were times when she was ridiculed for playing the race card and her over the top on-court drama but now she is simply a player par excellence and a delight to watch.
Serena has held the No. 1 spot quite a few times but rankings do not have much meaning for her opponents. She went into Wimbledon final as an “outside 100” player but was still the favourite to win. Serena has dominated the game for many years now, so much so that years later her years on circuit might be called “The Serena Era”. Serena is just one short of 24 major titles of Margaret Court and it may become a reality soon looking at her form and fitness.