Serena – Real-life Superwoman

The greatest female tennis player of all time hangs her racquet

Serena Williams went from learning tennis on public courts in a notorious American gangland neighbourhood to becoming a role model for generations.

She became an African-American icon in a white-dominated sport, winning 23 Grand Slam titles and smashing aside milestones with a determination as powerful as the raw energy that defines her shotmaking magic.

Serena and sister Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, were executive producers on the movie “King Richard” which told the Hollywood fairytale of them being taught tennis by father Richard Williams while growing up on the tough streets of Compton, California.

“I am still just that girl with the racquet and a dream and I’m just playing for that,” Williams said after a 2013 US Open title.

She wound up living the dream as she won seven Australian Open titles, three French Opens, seven Wimbledon crowns and six US Opens to stand agonisingly just one shy of matching the all-time record for Slam singles titles set by Margaret Court.

Serena won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open at age 17 and in 2017 captured her 23rd and most recent major title at the Australian Open while pregnant with Olympia.

She gave birth to her daughter in September 2017 and spent six weeks bedridden after a pulmonary embolism, but battled back to make her return to competition five months later in Fed Cup doubles alongside Venus.

Serena, whose husband is Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, twice completed a “Serena Slam” by winning all four major titles in a row. She did it in 2002-2003 starting with the 2002 French Open and again in 2014-15 starting with the 2014 US Open.

She had a chance to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015 but was upset by Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the US Open semi-finals.

“I never really want to focus on the numbers,” Williams said. “I started playing tennis not to be the greatest but just because I had a racquet and a dream. Now people are saying I could be (the greatest), but for me, I’m just not there yet.

“People like Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, they are just, to me, the ultimate icons in the history of women’s tennis.”

Williams brought a style and power to her game, at times her fashion designs, distracting from her dazzling on-court efforts.

She won the most recent of her 73 career WTA titles in January 2020 at the Auckland Open, her only crown as a mother.

Four times Williams had a chance to equal Court’s all-time record but lost in the 2018 and 2019 finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

Struggles and setbacks

She battled through struggles as well. Serena’s half-sister, Yetunde Price, was fatally shot in 2003 at age 31 by a gang member in their hometown of Compton. She had been Serena’s personal assistant.

After Serena cut her foot at a German restaurant, days following her 2010 Wimbledon triumph, she needed two surgeries and spent 20 weeks in a walking cast, a situation she blamed for causing blood clots in her lungs in 2011 that threatened her life. She missed three major events and was out for almost a year.

“(Doctors) said I had clots in both lungs. A lot of people die from that because you don’t recognise it,” Williams said in 2011.

“I couldn’t breathe, I honestly just thought I was out of shape. A couple more days and it would not have been good. It could have possibly been career-ending.

“Being at the top of your game, having to have something like that happen randomly was tough, and it really makes me appreciate things.”

Serena credited her success to the work by her father and stuck by him even after her parents split up.

“I wouldn’t have won a single title without him and without his backing,” said Williams. “He’s a great coach. He’s just so innovative.

“He built my game and my sister’s game. He gave us a good foundation. It was solid and it wasn’t weak, so we were always able to grow our game.”

Richard Williams would let other children taunt his daughters as they practised.

“In order to be successful you must prepare for the unexpected — and I wanted to prepare for that,” he told CNN in 2015. “Criticism can bring the best out of you.”

Final outing

Serena’s dreams of a fairytale finish to her glittering career were dashed last week as the tennis icon was sent crashing out of the US Open by Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.

The 40-year-old Serena — who last month signalled she planned to retire after the Open — was ousted 7-5, 6-7 (4/7) 6-1 by Tomljanovic in a gruelling 3-hour 5-minute battle.

Serena, a sporting and cultural icon who amassed 23 Grand Slam singles titles in her 27-year professional career, poured everything into one last stand in front of a ferociously partisan crowd at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Afterwards, she saluted the spectators, welling up as Tina Turner’s anthem “Simply the Best” belted out around the stands.

Asked by an on-court interviewer whether there was any possibility she might yet extend her career, she replied: “I don’t think so, but you never know.”

“It’s been a fun ride,” she added. “It’s been the most incredible ride and the journey I’ve ever been on, I mean, in my life.

“I’m just so grateful to every single person that’s ever said, ‘Go, Serena,’ in their life. You got me here.”

Serena reserved special praise for her parents Richard Williams and Oracene Price who had set her and her elder sister Venus on the path to superstardom.

“It all started with my parents,” Williams said. “They deserve everything. So I’m really grateful for them.”

Meanwhile, she also paid tribute to her sister as she looked on from the stands.

“I wouldn’t be Serena if there wasn’t Venus, so thank you, Venus. She’s the only reason that Serena Williams ever existed,” she said.

Different version of Serena

As she bid goodbye to tennis, Serena maintained that she is looking forward to a life beyond it.

“It takes a lot of work to get here. Clearly, I’m still capable,” she said. “It takes a lot more than that.

“I’m ready to, like, be a mom, explore a different version of Serena.

“Technically, in the world, I’m still super young, so I want to have a little bit of a life while I’m still walking.”

While the tennis legend said she hopes to remain involved in tennis in some capacity, in the near term she plans to spend more time with daughter Olympia, 5.

“It’s been really hard on her, my career,” she said. “So, it will be nice just to do that and spend some time with her, do things that I never really have done or had an opportunity to do.”

She admitted, however, that she was uncertain about what role tennis would play in her life.

“I’ve had so many amazing moments, that I don’t see a future without it,” she said. “What’s my involvement? I have no idea.”

Leaving a void

The departure of Serena from tennis will leave a void in the sport that may never be completely filled, according to the coach who played a pivotal role in nurturing her talent more than 30 years ago.

For Rick Macci, the Florida-based coaching guru who oversaw the development of Serena and sister Venus in the early 1990s, the 23-time Grand Slam winner leaves a legacy that will never be beaten.

In the end, Serena fell just short of matching Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 Grand Slam titles.

But for Macci, the totality of his former protege’s achievements, on and off the court, represents a more fundamental and lasting legacy than a mere tally of titles won.

“She’s the greatest female tennis player ever to hold a racquet, and the greatest female athlete that we’ve seen,” Macci told AFP. “I tell other people she should go on Mount Rushmore not just because of the size, the speed, the quickness, the agility, the best serve ever, the ability to dominate you. No, she should be on Mount Rushmore because when you played Serena, she literally made everybody ‘rush more’.”

‘Could have 30 Grand Slams’

Macci believes Williams’ array of technical talents and physical strengths, allied to her remarkable longevity and an indomitable spirit honed by her upbringing in Compton, made her unique.

“You’re never going to see a player like Serena Williams again,” said the 67-year-old. “She checks every box – size, speed, quickness, strength, agility.

“She had muscles on muscles even at age nine. Technically, she hits the ball very clean. We moulded the best serve in the history of tennis. But at the end of the day, it’s that Compton street fight.

“Serena was like a pit bull. When she got a hold of you she wouldn’t let go. And that’s an amazing quality. She has no weaknesses.”

In addition to Williams’ 23 singles Grand Slams — part of an overall haul of 73 titles — she also added 14 doubles titles with sister Venus and four Olympic gold medals.

Macci, who has also coached world number ones Andy Roddick, Jennifer Capriati and Maria Sharapova in a Hall-of-Fame career, believes Williams could easily have won more titles.

“She didn’t play all the Grand Slams. She was injured. She had a child. She could have had 30 Grand Slams.

“But it’s not even about the numbers. They just kind of mesmerise you when you hear them all. She could do it all. She’s the mentally strongest female athlete that we’ve ever seen.”

Serena departs the stage at a time when there is no obvious successor in the women’s game. Macci said the shock retirement of Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, and the inconsistent form of Naomi Osaka, reflected a sport in a state of flux.

“There will be a little bit of a void,” Macci said. “It will take time to create rivalries, and that’s why women’s tennis right now is very fluid.

“For someone to be the face and dominate like Serena — you’re never going to see that again.

“Forget the numbers, the numbers are off the charts. And that’s one thing. But you’re never going to see someone who has influenced so many people around the world.”

‘The greatest’

Tiger Woods and former first lady Michelle Obama hailed Serena Williams as “the greatest” after she failed to claim her 24th Grand Slam title.

“@serenawilliams you’re literally the greatest on and off the court,” tweeted Woods, a 15-time golf major winner who was in Serena’s player box for her second-round win last Wednesday.

“Thank you for inspiring all of us to pursue our dreams. I love you little sis!”

Michelle Obama hailed Serena for her rise to super-stardom from the tough Californian neighbourhood of Compton to sporting and cultural icon.

“Congrats on an amazing career, @SerenaWilliams! How lucky were we to be able to watch a young girl from Compton grow up to become one of the greatest athletes of all time,” tweeted Obama.

“I’m proud of you, my friend and I can’t wait to see the lives you continue to transform with your talents.”

Meanwhile, NBA superstar LeBron James described Serena as a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).

“Congratulations to you, you had an unbelievable career,” James said in a video message.

“What you have done for sport, for women is unprecedented, it’s been an honour to watch your journey and conquer all the goals you set out to do.

“Win, lose or draw, we knew you were the greatest.”

Fellow NBA legend Magic Johnson saluted Serena for her inspiring other Black athletes.

“We just witnessed the last US Open for the greatest of all time, Serena Williams!! Serena has meant so much to sports, the game of tennis, the world, every little girl, and even more to every little Black girl across the globe,” tweeted Johnson.

Television and entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey described Williams as a “Shero. Legend forever” while US sprinter Allyson Felix said her achievements “will never be lost on me”.

Teenage tennis star Coco Gauff, who is widely seen as Serena’s heir apparent, hailed her compatriot for inspiring her to take up the sport.

“Serena, THANK YOU. It is because of you I believe in this dream. The impact you’ve had on me goes beyond any words that can be put together and for that I say thank you, thank you, thank you, GOAT!”

Gauff was the French Open runner-up this year and is already into the fourth round of the US Open.

Andy Roddick, the last American man to win a Slam title in New York in 2003, said watching her play was the “pleasure of a lifetime.”

“Can’t wait to see what you do next. Thank you my old friend,” he tweeted.