ON THE GREATNESS OF THE GREAT ONE
By Bill Simons
The celebrity revelation of the first week of the US Open was shocking. Victoria Azarenka’s great love—the pop jester with the helter skelter hair, Redfoo—was missing in action. Well, he was down under in Australia being a judge on the vapid but oh-so-popular TV show The X-Factor. We immediately asked Vika the obvious question: “What is your X-factor?”
She replied that she was a comic. She loved to joke with her friends and wished she could share that quality with the fans.
But today on court, in her second straight US Open final, Vika showed little comedy. She was somber and fierce, coming up just short.
So, then, what is the X-factor for her opponent, a woman who once called herself Serena X?
Well, let us count the ways, the 17 things, that make Ms. Williams—with her 17 Slams—the most unique player in this or just about any other era.
1. LONGEVITY: As Martin Luther King said, longevity has its value, and Serena (who won her first Open as a wide-eyed 17-year old with beads in her hair) has been a force for 15 years. With experience comes knowledge.
2. PLANETARY INFLUENCES: We love Libras, but that’s not it. Serena’s older sis Venus, who she all but worships, has been everything: practice and then doubles partner, encouraging fan and supporter. Venus went out ahead of lil’ sis on the circuit as a role model and trailblazer, which has greatly eased Serena’s journey.
3. THE POWER OF LOSS: No one in tennis history is a better revenge or comeback player. Serena has overcome widely varied setbacks—among others, being jilted by Lavar Arrington; the murder of her half-sister Yetunde Price; her near-death experience with a pulmonary ailment; and, most recently, a humiliating defeat to Virginie Razzano in the first round of the ’12 French Open. Since the Razzano upset, she’s been on fire.
4. PATRICK MOURATOGLOU: The handsome, smart, and forthcoming French tennis teacher has become Serena’s coach and lover. Need we say more?
5. PARIS: She’s also fallen in love the City of Lights, France, and clay court tennis. There’s a reason that she has greater variety, finds more angles, is better at crafting points, and (in a move which should be illegal) even uncorks drop shots.
6. PATIENCE: Serena is patient? You’ve got to be kidding. But yes, now, with great awareness, she adjusts her tactics and her pace and can upgrade her game, as she did today, at crunch time.
7. THE TEAM: Mother Oracene, Papa Richard, her half-sisters, her physio, her hitting partner, and her press agent have her back. A seamless support system that deals with her day-to-day life, heals her hurts, pushes her to be so fit, and settles the storms of the game’s leading diva. Love in tennis does NOT mean nothing.
8. DOUBLES: Playing an extra event could be draining. But Serena loves playing with her sis, and it probably helps her volleys, her returns, her net skills, and keeps her from obsessing too much about her singles.
9. CALM: Don’t tell us that the explosive, implosive time-bomb that Serena once was has now gone Zen. Well, not exactly. But she showed ample quietude in a very windy final with many twists and setbacks; a match which could have morphed into a psychic disaster. Instead, she weathered both the weather and the many storms Azarenka induced.
10. SPEED AND DEFENSE: It’s hard to get it past this girl who gallops about and gobbles up virtually every shot in sight. What do you have to do to win a point?
11. SUPER SERVE: The serve is the most important shot in the game. And Serena, by a hefty margin, has the best serve in history. With a beautiful service motion based on Pete Sampras’ gorgeous serve, she can hit all four corners, and her wicked second serve kicks high. Today it was a mighty factor in her triumph.
12. THE RETURN: Oh yeah, when it is clicking, Serena has the most brutal return in the WTA.
13. FOCUS: Forget about wanting to be an actor. This woman has a “kind of crazy” intensity and rarely left her room during the Open so as to “stay in the zone.”
14. BALANCE: Newsflash: Serena’s a big girl who could flail away and slip and flop in a heap. Now she calls on far better footwork and some serious grace.
15. FEROCITY: Her coach Mouratoglou said,“She has this rage inside that she can put on the court and be so tough for her competitors. She also has this ability to find solutions on court. When she’s in trouble, she finds something inside to change the momentum.” Like McEnroe, she plays her best when she’s angry.
16. SHE NEVER GIVES UP: That was President Clinton explanation of Serena’s greatness. Serena herself simply said, “I just keep trying and I keep fighting. I have that spirit just to keep going.”
17. SHE’S A CHAMPION: When we asked Azarenka what the X-factor was with Serena, she candidly replied: “There’s one word—she’s a champion, and she knows how to repeat that. She knows what it takes to get there.
I know that feeling, too. And when two people who want that feeling so badly meet, it’s like a clash. That’s what happens out there [in] these battles. In the important moments, it’s who is more brave, who is more consistent, or who takes more risks. And with somebody like Serena, you’ve got to take risks. You can never play it safe, because she will do that [take successful risks]. She did that today really well.”
