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Serena Williams enters her final US Open less than a month shy of her 41st birthday, ranked No. 413 in the WTA rankings, having played just four singles matches in 14 months and losing three of them. Any player in that position with those stats ahead of a Grand Slam tournament would be the least expected to even have a remote chance of winning the tournament, and quite rightly so. Any player, but Serena Williams.
That is not to say that Williams is a strong contender to win the 2022 US Open, she isn't. Williams might just bid farewell to the sport with an early exit at the same arena where she well and truly announced herself on the big stage by winning the 1999 US Open as a 17-year-old. For she, too, is human.
But the fact that she dominated the sport in a manner that no other player ever did in the Open Era, with a display of grit she has owned for over 25 years, means that the possibility of her making a deep run at the tournament won't come as that big a shock to many as it would have with 'any other player.'
Serena Williams, along with her sister Venus Williams, was tipped to reach previously unreached heights in tennis by their father Richard Williams. While many did not pay enough heed to Richard's claims, he certainly knew what he was saying. As Venus arrived on the big stage, she was expected to change the face of women's tennis, leaving many in awe of her talents. But Richard claimed back then that Serena would make it even bigger in the sport.
The Williams sisters entered the scene in the late 90s era where many top players did not become champions necessarily through brute force and a powerful style of play, but with more finesse, guile, and a strategy relying on patience. While the sisters did not invent the power game, they certainly owned it and applied it in ways no other player did. They used the serve as a shot that forced their opponents on the backfoot right away and they did so more often than not.
Venus and Serena Williams' style of play was structured on an attacking brand of tennis, taking the ball early and with a lot of power in their groundstrokes, often leaving opponents frustrated and in awe at the same time.
The Williams' greatness lies in the fact that they have played such a brand of tennis with the level of consistency and ferociousness that they did, forcing their colleagues to also up the ante if they were to have any chance against the dominance of Serena and Venus Williams.
Upcoming players studied them in depth, and many players of the current generation, the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Emma Raducanu, and Naomi Osaka, to name a few, possess the power game. The Williams sisters themselves might be finding it hard to deal with that style of play from opponents at this stage of their careers, but that is an ode to their legacy.
True to their father's prediction, Serena Williams, who started playing tennis after watching her sister, became the more accomplished player. Serena has also won 19 of the 31 matches the two sisters have played against one another. But what sets the younger sister apart?
Williams did not just redefine the way tennis was played, but also set an example for others to follow in terms of mental strength and fortitude at the top level. Be it her winning the 2017 Australian Open while nine weeks pregnant, reaching two Grand Slam finals just a year after childbirth, having a life-threatening delivery, or overcoming a pulmonary embolism to stay at the top of the WTA circuit for years to come. These are just a few examples of the challenges she faced and overcame in her illustrious career.
“Until you’re shaking hands with them, they do not think they’re going to lose,” former French Open mixed doubles champion Mary Carillo said to The Guardian, highlighting Williams' mental strength. "They really don’t believe it. And that, I think, was a thing that the other players in the locker room really felt."
Serena Williams' contributions transcend the tennis world
Serena and Venus Williams' legacy cannot be restricted to just their tennis. Again, they were not the first players to revolutionize the sport in this regard. The Williams sisters were not the first players of color to overcome challenges and make it big in tennis, but never before have two black women reached the pinnacle of the sport and stayed there in the manner and with the longevity of the Williams sisters.
Venus and Serena Williams inspired a whole new generation of black kids that they too could make it big, not just in tennis, but in the sport or profession of their choice. They have attracted a whole new fan base and have brought in many new fans to the sport over the last two plus decades.
"Especially growing up in my sport, where I’m the only person of color, seeing these two prominent figures, also the only people of color, really gave me a lot of confidence that I can do something similar. It’s not impossible," said seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton in an interview with TIME.
Serena Williams, who owns the venture capital firm 'Serena Ventures', has been helping other people of color make strides in various businesses through her company's work. The younger Williams sister is herself 'a brand' beyond tennis, and one of the most influential and iconic ones at that.
No Serena without Venus
As Serena Williams says her final goodbyes to the sport she loves at the ongoing US Open, much of the talk is around the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion. However, she has always maintained that there is no Serena without Venus, and even shed light on her older sister's contribution to her life and career in her emotional retirement announcement.
"I followed her around the world and watched her. When she lost, I understood why, and I made sure I wouldn’t lose the same way. That’s how I started to move so fast up the rankings, because I learned the lessons from Venus’s losses instead of the hard way, from my own," Serena Williams wrote in an article in Vogue.
Along with their two Olympic gold medals in doubles, the two players have won each of the 14 Grand Slam doubles finals they have contested together and Serena Williams picked the perfect occasion to play her final doubles Major with Venus Williams - the 2022 US Open, their home Grand Slam tournament.
Venus Williams and Father Richard recall one match that 7-time Grand Slam champion "should have won"
