Although Serena hasn’t needed to prove that she’s the best very often over the course of her career, she quietened her doubters (if there were any) with a sensational 6-0, 6-0 win over the Spaniard, Carla Suarez-Navaro (I don’t think this Suarez tried to bite her, though).
Williams held her serve to love in the first game, and from then on it was a victory for Navarro if she managed to win a point.
For those of you who managed to watch the match, you’ll have noticed that most rallies consisted of the following sequence (when Williams served): Williams serves, Navarro scrambles to her left/right and just manages to return, although her return is loopy and easy to hit. Williams smashes the ball to one side of Navarro (accompanied by a huge scream) and Navarro scrambles again to return with another loopy shot. Williams finally gets the winner away.
Something which is slightly worrying for all of her rivals (if not every tennis watcher in the world) is that Serena claimed in her post-match interview that she hasn’t hit top gear yet. Whilst she combined flair and power to almost perfection, perhaps we shall see one of the few moments in sport when perfection is reached this year.
Serena’s dominance in the Singles has left the others scrapping for majors throughout her career. But it doesn’t stop there, she and sister Venus have combined to sweep thirteen major Doubles titles to add to her sixteen major Singles titles (I should also mention that she has two major Mixed Doubles titles as well), so her total record is unrivalled in the sport.
There is absolutely no question, Serena is a winner. In Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”-Act ii Scene V, Malvolio fakes a letter which includes the now legendary quote;
“Some are born great [like Roger Federer, Usain Bolt and Lionel Messi], some achieve greatness [like the Arsenal invincibles and Jack Nicklaus], and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em [I’m being slightly cynical, but nonetheless, like Sebastian Vettel and Bebeto].”
Serena is one of the few sportspeople to have been part of all three categories. There is no question that she is one of the most naturally talented players to have graced the female side of the game.
Furthermore, she has certainly achieved greatness; her thirty-one Grand Slam titles certainly back that up. I’m stretching the analogy slightly, but one could argue that sister Venus has helped thrust greatness upon her (perhaps her father is the more appropriate greatness-thruster in this case though).
Serena made Navarro look like the worst Quarter-Finalist in US Open history. Whatsmore is that she did with such ease that it looked like she was playing David Navarro rather than Suarez-Navarro. If what she said afterwards is really true and she isn’t playing her best tennis yet, it would take a miracle for someone to stop her from winning a seventeenth Grand Slam singles title.
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Main photo credit: MattBritt00 via photopin cc
