By Bill Simons
Every big final in tennis sizzles. At the French Open, it seems that every continental monsieur and madame descends on Roland Garros. The Wimbledon final draws the aristocratic elite and A-list celebrities to Centre Court and the Royal Box. And the US Open final is a “gotta be there” New York happening.
Rarely does an early-round match catch our attention, but there’s never been one quite like Serena Williams‘s first match here at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday night, after a perplexing 14-year absence. It should be a return like few others.
Yes, Martina Navratilova, who defected from Czechoslovakia in 1975, returned eleven years later to a hero’s welcome (much to the frustration of the Communist overlords of her country). Once the Berlin Wall fell, the great West German champion Steffi Graf went to what had been a forbidden East German city, Leipzig, and amidst tears, won the tournament there. But now all of the tennis world will be tuned in as Serena returns after a most controversial time away from Indian Wells.
Questions abound. Will she overcome what will probably be considerable nerves and actually win? Will African-Americans come out in support of her? Will her family—her mother Oracene, and most of all, her father Richard (who hasn’t been seen at a big tournament in years)—shock us and be on site? Far more important than all of this is the question of how the fans will react. Will the California-born Williams, who’s ranked No. 1, and who many consider the best of all time, be welcomed with great applause? Or will the disdain we saw long ago again resurface?
The public announcer at Indian Wells always tells us, “Once you’re a BNP Paribas champion, you’re always a BNP Paribas Open champion.” Well, Serena Williams, for all her problematic incidents and considerable imperfections, has not only given tennis one memorable moment after another, she’s a two-time winner in Indian Wells. Folks of good sense can only hope that one of the great athletes in women’s sports, who’s come a long way in her life, is welcomed as a champion.
