The Grand-Slam Saga
This year on the morning of Friday 11th September it would have been insane to have said that Serena Williams would not get the Grand-Slam winning just two more matches and will not play the rest of the year.
Unbelievably and unfortunately this is exactly what happened. It is the date on which she played Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the US-Open semi-final and lost. The shock-wave it created does not seem to wane-off. Serena deserves the Grand-Slam. I would also add that ‘Tennis’ also needs it right now. In the modern era the Grand-Slam has become a mythical feat like ‘catching a shooting star’ and losing its real meaning in sports.
To Serena, the match against Roberta was another in terms of Tennis. Winning or losing could not be the end of the world to a player who has a win-loss record of only 50 to 3 in 2015 and collected five big titles and approximately ten and half million dollars in prize money. Her absence in events after her loss and her subsequent announcement of ending the season to physically recuperate is understandable but also shows the intensity of the emotional trauma she experienced. No one has come this close to getting the Grand Slam since Steffi Graf’s success in the eighties. Considering the intensity of the competition now, this being only two matches short of getting the slam, is a phenomenal achievement in itself.
The success
The contribution of USA’s Williams family to Tennis is undeniable and is written history. Even right now, the two sisters, in their thirties, are in the top twenty of the World. Serena won the Australian-Open in February, French-Open in June, Wimbledon in July and the Cincinnati and Miami titles then reached the semi-final of the US-Open in September. Currently, she is number one in the world and has collected 11285 points to lead the pack for the year-end Master’s in Singapore in October with over 5000 points.
To her opponents she is an imposing figure very nearly perfect in every department of the game. Serena gives the impression that she would not do well in long matches. Contrary to this, records show that she has come through some of the longest and close matches adapting to adverse playing conditions and extreme challenges. Serena is the most successful women’s singles Tennis player this year in the world.
The shock
Italy’s Vinci is known in Tennis but right now she is only ranked 16. She has not made it into the master’s in Singapore. In the US-open, I thought Vinci’s appearance in the semi-final would clear the field and make it easy for Serena to reach the final and clinch the Grand-Slam. Vinci is very nearly Serena’s age and was extremely successful in Doubles. Partnering fellow Italian Sera Errani they were ranked number one. This year she has concentrated on Singles. The ‘now or never’ grit she exhibited against Serena to win seemed more of a defiance than a tactical norm. It was her personality factor that got her the win. Serena’s game has raw pace and consistency. To counter it, Vinci’s edge came from her ability to play good doubles. It contributed to her reaction speed, all-court stroke ability, speed control, net game and the use of touch. This match is now been played over and over again by ‘pundits and players’ trying to search the elements that shocked the world. It is in many ways rewriting the current ‘book-of-tactics’.
Even before the dust settled, Serena has come up with another shocker. She announced that she is ending her 2015 season to nurse her battered physique. There is certainly much truth in it. Tennis players today are over-stepping their physical capacity to a point of physical breakdown. Her coach did say that Serena has lost her motivation for the moment. This could be the result of exhaustion and disappointment.
After the loss to Vinci, Serena announced that she would not entertain any questions regarding her failure to achieve the Grand-Slam, at the post-match press conference. Such was her disappointment. It was a sign of things to come. She will not be playing any more events this year. The master’s in Singapore is a compulsory event of WTA. Not playing it means she will not get the four hundred and fifty thousand dollar bonus award for being the number one in 2015.
Sister Venus is coming
Williams are still in big Tennis news. In somewhat of a vendetta Venus Williams beat Roberta Vinci in three sets in China last week. She then won the title beating Garbine Mugurusa in the final. Venus disappeared at her peak a few years ago having faced what could be termed as ‘sports terrorism’. The trauma seems to tell on her personality even today. Currently being world’s number fourteen, is still a respectable position to the former world’s number one with multiple Grand–Slam titles. The win in China gave her the 47th WTA title. The sisters also play good Doubles and Doubles could very well be a route to bring Serena back into Singles again and for the Grand-Slam.
George Paldano, former player; Accredited Coach of Germany; National, Davis-Cup, Federation Cup and Qualified coach–. gptennis.ceylon@gmail.com