It was supposed to never happen.
But there was Venus Williams, in the BNP Paribas Open’s outdoor player restaurant, relaxed and serene in a blue floral dress and a green handbag. It didn’t seem to be a big deal. Nearby, there was a beast (Belarus’ Max “The Beast” Miryni) and an angel (a giddy six-year-old girl with a smile and an inner-sanctum credential).
A Croatian cadre with Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic at the forefront didn’t give a hoot and didn’t even glance at Venus. Nearby players, agents, and friends came by before Venus eventually switched to the privacy of a far table to work her cell phone.
It was an seemingly ordinary calm-before-the-storm scene inside tennis. Yet, most thought the sport would never see this benign moment. After all, for 15 years, Venus had been in retrograde. American life has seen many boycotts, most notably the Montgomery bus and the California grape boycotts. Tennis, too, was long familiar with players saying, “I’ve had it and I’m not going to take it anymore.” The 1973 Wimbledon boycott transformed the landscape of modern tennis and many players have refused to play Davis Cup because of perceived slights. But tennis had never seen as lengthy a boycott as Venus’s 15-year protest – “Hell no, I won’t go.”
When Serena ended her boycott last year, Venus was incredibly conspicuous by her absence. The woman, who had been such a pioneer, who had brought a different shade to the game, who was the first African-American woman to be No. 1, was once again MIA. Venus had given tennis a “Big Babe” power, had fought for equal prize money, and had spoken out against banning an Israeli player in Dubai. But proud “V” just couldn’t embrace the idea of returning to Indian Wells, where, as a 20-year old, she had endured so much pain. It’s hard to forgive.
Venus recently wrote in the Players Tribune that she remembered “the accusations toward me and my sister and our father. I remember the crowd’s reaction, as I walked to my seat…And I remember how I couldn’t understand why thousands of people would be acting this way – to a 19-year-old and a 20-year-old, trying their best.
“There are certain things where, if you go through them at a certain age, you simply don’t forget them.
“Not feeling welcome somewhere is a hard memory to let go of — at any age. At 20? It’s almost impossible.
“But on the other hand, when I think about it now…[it’s] more my memory of how I felt…that has stuck with me.
“I remember the hurt…my confusion and disappointment and anger. I remember the coverage…didn’t seem concerned with me and Serena, as people…I remember feeling that I had been wronged, and that I had done nothing wrong. I remember feeling that I had unfairly gotten the brunt of the blame for a bad situation.
“And I remember leaving Indian Wells in 2001 feeling like I wasn’t welcome there…[and that’s a] hard memory to let go of … And so that’s what I did. I held onto it. But then I saw Serena.”
The younger Williams explained the Mandela connection to IT. “I’ve had a chance to meet Mandela and go to South Africa…and see the culture and all that he was able to do and the encouragement he was able to give people of all races. Obviously with black people, but it extended way, way, way beyond that. Talking to him and reading his biography and really understanding, wow, the things that he went through – he even became friends with his jailers, which is something that still is difficult for me to comprehend. It impacted me in a really strong way, and was one of the reasons why I wanted to come back…For anyone to go through 27 years in prison and really forgive, I knew I wanted to try and do something.”
Now Venus was doing something.
As the desert sun started to seek the horizon, marking the end of another day, Venus prepped for a new chapter in her 19-year career. In the player garden, the 35-year-old stretched, swayed, bent and jogged in place. Her arms extended and her legs twisted – a stunning athletic graphic. Under a palm tree her trainer whispered quiet truths. One sensed she said, “You’re a legend, this is it.”
Serena’s return last year was said by the then-president of the WTA to be her “Martin Luther King moment.”
Now, at long last, Venus’ moment came. The stadium announcer shouted, “It’s the return of a superstar!” At 4:47 PM she emerged, and was welcomed with not one or two, but three waves of applause. “We love you,” shouted a booming voice from the top tier. Housewives from Palm Desert howled in glee. Venus beamed. Few in the game have a better smile.
Why not? Tennis and sports again showed their curious redemptive power. Well, Mandela did tell us that our games can bring people together more adeptly than politics. Forgiveness happens.
So an observer sighed. “The circle is closed. Venus did this for Serena. Now she can go about her business.”
Yes, in the end, the weather turned desert cold. Winds blew, rain came and the legendary “V,” the world No. 12, fell 6-4, 6-3 to Kurumi Nara, a little-known 24-year-old Japanese qualifier ranked No. 89 who had just one win in 17 tries against players in the top 20. Now there was a deja vu feeling. Last year, when Serena withdrew before the semis, Mary Carillo said, “Rats. Not a storybook ending.” Tonight Venus said, “Not everything can end [as a] fairy tale. It’s enough of a fairy tale to be here. Sometimes there’s a little bit of a glitch.”
Still, Venus glowed. She told the press that, “just being here, just being on the practice court and on site has been…[was] such a great experience…I did get emotional. When we were doing the coin toss I got a little watery-eyed…I smiled [through] the whole warm-up…It’s been a wonderful moment. Fifteen years later, to have such a joyous return is more than I could have ever [expected.] It’s such a blessing.”
As for the bigger issue of reconciliation, Venus said, “It’s a two-way street. We could have come back here and everyone could have picked up where they left off…But everyone was welcoming – and also for us, we could have never come back. But we came back…The change of attitudes on both ends isn’t always easy…The crowd was so supportive, and just so amazing.”
So was Venus Williams.
