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By Blair Henley / Friday, January 17, 2014
Serena Williams is one of the most dominant athletes on the
planet, but let’s keep the hero worship in perspective,
says Blair Henley.
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson / Corleve
MELBOURNE, Australia — With her eye-popping record of
78-4 in 2013, Serena Williams
singlehandedly raised expectations for performance during the
so-called twilight years of a professional tennis career.
Eleven tournament wins. A 34-match winning streak. A return to
the No. 1 ranking. She had a better season at age 32 than she
did a decade earlier when she and her sister Venus were
establishing themselves as the fierce new faces of the game. As
a result of her age-defying dominance, Williams has the tennis
world worshipping at her feet.
But let’s be realistic: Williams is arguably more committed to
her tennis career now (not to be confused with her career as an
actress, clothing designer or certified nail technician) than
she has ever been. In other words, her remarkable run kicked
off by her 2012 Wimbledon win is far from a fluke. It’s what a
locked-in Serena Williams is capable of, which begs the
question: How good she could have been, what records could she
have toppled by now, if she were more focused on her play and
her fitness five, six or seven years ago?
Particularly short sighted is the urge to compare Williams to
Roger Federer. Of course, they have age in
common and are considered by many to be the best to have ever
played the sport. But it’s easy to look at Federer’s slide from
the No. 1 spot he held for an amazing 302 weeks of his career
and wonder why he can’t summon some of Williams’ late-career
magic. Turns out, Williams has a few things working in her
favor. In addition to the fact that the current men’s top 10
has considerably greater depth than the women’s side, Williams
has far more gas in the tank than your average 32-year-old
tennis pro.
Of the 65 Grand Slams she could have played since the beginning
of 1998, she was fit to participate in just 54 of them. That’s
the equivalent of a nearly three-year Grand Slam vacation. And
it’s not as if she was making up for those holes by focusing on
non-majors, at least not until the 2013 season rolled around
where she played 12 of them.
Consider the 636 – 112 career record Williams has racked up
during her 18 years as a pro. It sounds impressive until you
compare her to some of her neighbors in the record books.
Steffi Graf amassed a 900 – 115 career record
during her 17-year career. Chris Evert
compiled a mind-boggling 1,304 – 144 record in the same amount
of time. Martina Navratilova puts all of those
match counts to shame, albeit over a slightly longer singles
career, with a mark of 1,442 – 219. As for Federer? He
sits at a healthy 923-215.
The point is clear: Williams’ “tennis age” is far younger than
her 32 years. Add to that her newfound focus on fitness and she
may as well be in her prime. In fact, before play kicked off at
the Australian Open, she was asked to specify the difference
between her ultra-focused approach to the game today versus
several years ago. Unlike so many other players in the over-30
crowd who curse the ever-ticking clock, she cited her age as
her greatest advantage.
“It’s definitely a little bit of everything,” she said of her
dominance over the last 18 months. “Also, I think age makes a
difference, as well. Obviously I’m a little bit older. I think
everything put in the mixing bowl factors in.”
If she keeps winning Grand Slams for years to come, which
appears to be a distinct possibility, her unconventional career
approach will have worked in her favor. If she hits a wall
physically or (more likely) psychologically, we will never know
what she could have accomplished as the most athletically
gifted female tennis player in history. She will have
underachieved.
To be sure, Williams might be enjoying the retired life by now
if not for the multiple mini-breaks, injury-related or
otherwise, during her time on the WTA Tour. She has
unapologetically bucked athlete tradition, refusing to treat
her career as a commodity that could be ripped from her grasp
at any moment. With that in mind, let’s keep the hero worship
in perspective. Serena Williams’ force and tennis longevity
should come as no surprise.
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