By Bill Simons
“If you don’t accept the idea to die,” Serena’s brainy French coach Patrick Mouratoglou told IT, “You cannot live. If you’re afraid you cannot live. If you’re afraid of losing, you’re playing with fear, and fear is the worst adviser.”
On a fateful September day Serena played with fear. She was fighting history, and history won.
“Serena,” admitted Mouratoglou, “lost her way, mentally. Tactically, she didn’t know what to do.”
Still, despite her loss in the US Open semis to Roberta Vinci, despite all the pressure and injuries, despite the fact that her quest to win the Grand Slam fell agonizingly short, Serena had a mind-boggling year.
Once more she crushed her prime rival, Maria Sharapova, at the Aussie Open. She won five three-set matches en route to winning the French, and survived a memorable scare against Brit Heather Watson en route to winning Wimbledon.
She won three Slams, had a 53-3 record and was a dominant No. 1. It seemed like no foe, even No. 2 Simona Halep, was even in her rear-view mirror. When the New York Times created a stir by supposedly questioning her body type, supporters rallied decrying even the slightest hint of body shaming.”We are not ashamed of Serena,” said Melissa Harris-Perry, “we are thrilled that she embraces the enormity of her body, talent and influence.”
Serena’s influence was clearly seen when she decided to end her 14-year boycott of Indian Wells. Many had asserted there was no racial intent in 2001 when fans booed her for over two hours. But USTA President Katrina Adams asserted that the incident “was unethical” and BNP Paribas CEO Ray Moore said “the situation…was [an example of] ugly human traits.”
Writer Chris Bowers suggested Serena’s eventual return to Indian Wells “could be a massive moment in the evolution of human dignity.” WTA chief Stacey Allaster told Williams, “This is your Martin Luther King moment.”
Serena herself said that her return “was really good timing, not just for me but for Americans to step up and say, ‘We as a people…can do better.'”
Inside Tennis recalled the memorable March evening when the prodigal daughter returned. “It was a moment many thought would never come,” we wrote. “Just after 7 p.m., Serena’s mother and sister nervously took their seats. The desert heat lost its debilitating grip. The golden light in the Santa Rosa mountains dulled. Bells chimed, emotions soared. A sign lifted by a beaming eight-year-old captured the moment. ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ it proudly proclaimed.
And then, out of the tunnel, Serena emerged. The crowd rose and offered a wall of delirious sound.
The 33-year-old wept. ‘It was an amazing moment,’ she recalled.
The healing moment we long hoped for was here. As Serena said, ‘together we have a chance to write a different ending.’ And we did. The score was settled. The memory muted, the ending good. The drama was over.”
Michael Eric Dyson said of Serena’s return, “Without such [moments of] forgiveness, America may well have flowed in the blood of recrimination. Instead, black folk have consistently proved to be moral pillars of American conscience…Black athletes in particular have carried the water of grievance for black life…and have represented the heartbeat of black resistance to racism.”
But it’s even more. Sports Illustrated’s S.L. Price suggested “each ‘Come On!’ shout by Williams is taken as a war cry by everyone from ‘Lean In’ women to age-defying codgers, to body-shamed kids to #BlackLivesMatter protesters, to yes, the voices of racial conciliation…We are an angry country now, disdainful of consensus, with hard divides between right and left, black and white, rich and poor, immigrant and native, millennial and boomer. But the promise of opportunity remains, and who embodies it better than the poor black girl who rose from the streets of Compton, CA, to high tea at Wimbledon – accompanied by s sibling nearly her athletic equal.”
