MELBOURNE – The ladies’ final was boring and predictable, but proved that Serena deserves to be regarded as the true number one player of the last 15 years and a main contender for the elusive “greatest of all time” title. Venus’ presence and unconditional support has encouraged the growth and longevity of both sisters, but would a greater and more “competitive” rivalry have been possible if the two had not been siblings?
After the excitement of Friday’s memorable marathon that saw Rafael Nadal prevail over Grigor Dimitrov, a letdown on Saturday was almost inevitable. Most of the matches between Venus and Serena had never been particularly entertaining, although this year’s Australian Open final had its own special place in history for the fact that it occurred 19 years after the sisters’ first meeting in Melbourne and also resulted in Grand Slam title No. 30 for the Williams’ family. It was title No. 23 for Serena, who finally moved past Steffi Graf and is now chasing Margaret Court – winner of an astonishing 24 Grand Slam titles, 11 of which were nonetheless clinched in Australia during a period of time when very few players made the trip Down Under.
For once in this crazy and unpredictable tournament, the overwhelming favorite emerged as the winner. Serena‘s 6-4 6-4 victory was decided by a break in the crucial seventh game of each set, while Venus should in any case be proud of her magical run. Big sister – who was seeded No. 13 – made the most out of an extremely favorable draw with No. 24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova being the highest ranked player that Venus had to face during the entire fortnight. In her semifinal match, Venus prevailed over the outsider Coco Vandeweghe, who is currently ranked No.34.
With this victory, Serena is back on top of the tennis world where she truly belongs – as a matter of fact, where she should have been for the past 15 years without any interruption. Despite what the rankings at times said in the past, Serena has always been the real world number one for the simple fact that when she is healthy, she is better than anyone else. To Serena’s credit, it is fair to say that she is really “that” good. To everyone else’s discredit, no other player has been capable of stepping up to the plate and competing with her. Last year Angelique Kerber finished the season as world number one after clinching the Australian and US Open titles, but it would be naïve to assume that a player could suddenly become the queen of tennis at 28 years of age without any favorable circumstances. Last year Maria Sharapova was forced to disappear from the tour, while most of the other main contenders – including Radwanska, Pliskova and Muguruza – didn’t improve as much as everyone had anticipated. Cibulkova’s triumph at the WTA Finals in Singapore exposed in my opinion the crisis that women’s tennis is currently facing.
Steffi Graf’s 22 Slams and overall legacy were tarnished by Seles’ stabbing incident that occurred when Monica was clearly the No. 1 player in the world and Steffi had fallen to No. 2. Seles would probably have more Grand Slam titles to her name had the frenzied attack never occurred, thus making a big impact on the contents of the Graf trophy cabinet. Serena’s 23 Slams are instead unquestionable and we can safely add that she could have probably won even more titles had she been 100% focused on her tennis career in her mid- and late twenties.
The Williams’ sisters are two phenoms that transcend the tennis world as no other siblings have ever won 30 major titles in the history of international sport. The most surprising factor in their extraordinary story is that their tennis careers came out of nowhere. Before Venus and Serena came along, the Williams’ family didn’t have any tennis tradition or credential and very few black athletes showed any interest in practicing a predominantly white sport. With the help of their parents, Venus and Serena turned out to be two formidable tennis players. They were stronger, faster and more athletic and hit the ball harder than any other girl. They also quickly became technically superior, thanks to great tennis teachers like Rick Macci that certainly polished their game.
Venus and Serena wouldn’t have probably enjoyed such long careers had they not embarked on this incredible journey together. The two sisters have always been almost inseparable and constantly supported each other. At the same time, it is fascinating to speculate what kind of rivalry these two unbelievable athletes would have established at the top of the game had they not been sisters. Can you imagine how many incredible battles they would have been engaged in? Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin used to be very friendly with each other until Henin’s coach Carlos Rodriguez convinced Justine that she and her countrywoman couldn’t be friends and rivals at the same time.
The same thing happened between Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini, who used to practice and play doubles together. Steffi – who used to have a winning record against Gabriela – suddenly lost three or four matches in a row to her Argentinian friend, including a very important US Open final. Gabriela’s new coach Carlos Kirmayr – an extremely smart former player from Brazil – convinced Sabatini that the best way to beat Steffi was to attack the German’s backhand at any opportunity. Graf’s team decided that it was time for Steffi to terminate her doubles partnership with Gabriela. As a result, Steffi started to dominate the rivalry with Gabriela once again.
In conclusion, the Williams’ sisters have been and still are a formidable force with 30 Grand Slam titles and counting. If they had not been sisters, they probably would have been even more successful than they actually are.
(Article translation provided by T&L Global – Translation & Language Solutions – www.t-lglobal.com)
