Serena Williams’ legacy involves plenty of wins, plenty else
A few days earlier than Serena Williams claimed the twenty second of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon in 2016, she was requested what she makes of it when folks discuss with her as one among historical past’s biggest feminine athletes.
Her reply: She prefers being characterised as “one of many biggest athletes of all time.”
That one, temporary response from Williams stated quite a bit — about her one-of-a-kind talent with a racket in hand, about her standing as an icon, about her willingness to face up for herself, about why ladies’s sports activities shouldn’t be considered any in a different way than males’s sports activities.
That every one got here to thoughts once more Tuesday, when Williams indicated she is making ready to stroll away from her skilled tennis profession as the beginning of the U.S. Open approaches on Aug. 29 and her forty first birthday approaches subsequent month.
Sure, with shouts of “Come on!” marking the journey, she’s gained probably the most main singles championships within the skilled period of tennis, which started in 1968; greater than the 22 for Steffi Graf or Rafael Nadal, greater than the 21 for Novak Djokovic, greater than the 20 for Roger Federer, greater than the 18 for Chris Evert or Martina Navratilova, greater than anybody else. And, sure, Williams gained a complete of 73 tour-level singles titles and spent greater than six years’ value of weeks ranked No. 1. And she or he mixed along with her older sister Venus to say 14 Grand Slam ladies’s doubles titles. After which there are the 4 Olympic gold medals. And so forth. And so forth.
Nonetheless, mere numbers cannot seize every part Williams has represented throughout a distinguished profession that started when she was a youngster within the Nineties and is exceptional for not simply the successes but additionally the longevity, together with a document 10 main championships after turning 30.
“She’s lasted longer than most, if not all, feminine tennis professionals. She’s transcended tennis and develop into a pacesetter on many essential cultural, social and gender points. She has lived a unprecedented life,” Evert wrote in a textual content message to The Related Press, “and can undoubtedly proceed to crash the glass ceiling sooner or later.”
Certainly, what Williams did with no racket in her hand is somewhat noteworthy, and extends previous the hundreds of thousands in endorsement offers; the flirtations with performing; the curiosity in trend design and penchant for bringing the catwalk to the court docket with physique fits and knee-high boots and no matter else she determined to attempt; the celeb and place in popular culture; and, most lately, the work as a enterprise capitalist (“Seventy-eight % of our portfolio occurs to be firms began by ladies and folks of coloration, as a result of that’s who we’re,” Williams stated).
“It is very important take a step again and take into consideration every part that Serena has dropped at our sport and what she has achieved each on and off the court docket,” stated Steve Simon, the top of the WTA ladies’s tennis tour. “She is likely one of the biggest champions, an entrepreneur, a mom, an investor in ladies’s enterprise ventures and an inspiration to ladies and women the world over.”
Williams spoke out about being Black in her sport — she was the primary to win a Grand Slam event since Althea Gibson within the Fifties — and in her nation. She stayed away from a event in California for years after she and her father heard racist taunts there. She talked about being a lady in tennis, about being a lady who handled problems in childbirth, about being a mom (her daughter, Olympic, turns 5 on Sept. 1, and Williams needs to have one other child).
She and Venus helped their sport attain a broader viewers and helped convey a broader slice of society into their sport (Coco Gauff, the 18-year-old African-American who was the runner-up on the French Open in Might, stated Tuesday she performs what she known as “a predominantly white sport” as a result of she “noticed any person who regarded like me dominating the sport”).
“I don’t significantly like to consider my legacy. I get requested about it quite a bit, and I by no means know precisely what to say,” she wrote in an essay released by Vogue journal. “However I’d wish to suppose that because of alternatives afforded to me, ladies athletes really feel that they are often themselves on the court docket. They’ll play with aggression and pump their fists. They are often robust but stunning. They’ll put on what they need and say what they need and kick butt and be pleased with all of it.”
There have been, to make certain, moments that she maybe was not as pleased with, confrontations with match officers that led to getting docked some extent or a recreation in U.S. Open losses to Naomi Osaka and Kim Clijsters — possibly the kinds of episodes she was referring to in her essay when she stated: “I’ve made a number of errors in my profession. Errors are studying experiences, and I embrace these moments. I’m removed from good, however I’ve additionally taken a number of criticism, and I’d wish to suppose that I went via some arduous instances as an expert tennis participant in order that the following era may have it simpler.”
Her serve was a present, as have been the highly effective groundstrokes that she and Venus — her opponent in 9 all-in-the-family Grand Slam finals — made a everlasting a part of the sport. So, too, was an unbending will and want to all the time come out on high, whether or not the particular person throughout the online was Huge Sis or anybody else, whether or not she was making an attempt to win some extent throughout a match or make some extent in an interview.
“I wish to be nice. I wish to be good,” Williams stated. “I do know good doesn’t exist, however no matter my good was, I by no means needed to cease till I obtained it proper.”
In tennis, in fact, and past.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis author since 2002. Write to him at hfendrich@ap.org or comply with him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
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Extra AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Howard Fendrich, The Related Press
