PARIS—
Tuesday afternoon
I’m just beginning to see
Now I’m on my way
It doesn’t matter to me
Chasing the clouds away
Something calls to me…
I’ve got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh
I’m looking at myself reflections of my mind
It’s just the kind of day to leave myself behind
~ The Moody Blues
On this sometimes moody, other times blue Tuesday afternoon, some 14,000 fans came to a Paris tennis court.
They knew that three times on this court, Ms. Serena Williams had held high the French Open trophy in triumph. But Courte Centrale in Philippe Chatrier Stadium had also punished her. Her 2012 loss to Virginie Razzano was arguably the most important loss in women’s tennis in recent memory.
Now questions surged.
Okay– there is no more important sportswoman in the world, and Serena’s impact is only growing. Her awareness is soaring. More and more she’s becoming a cultural force. She’s not Oprah in sneakers, but you get the point.
Plus, she’s everywhere, from your TV screen to classy old British chapels. Still, the question remains: can the all-time great return to the top? She’s won 23 Slams, but the 36-year-old’s return to the game has been clunky. She’s ranked No. 453 and, amidst controversy, wasn’t seeded in Paris. When she returned to the circuit, she looked terrible in a Fed Cup doubles match. She was handled with ease by her sister Venus in Indian Wells, and was pounded mercilessly by young Naomi Osaka in Miami. Her signature weapon, her serve, hadn’t served her that well. She lost two matches and four sets in a row. Then she withdrew from one clay court tourney after another – Charleston, Madrid, Rome.
Serena has long tweaked convention, and she’s already overcome so much. But coming back from a very challenging pregnancy at age 36 has been one of the steepest mountains she’s had to climb.
By 4:18 p.m. the clouds had cleared and it was time for Serena to step up. This would not be her first Grand Slam match as a mother. She was pregnant throughout her run to the 2017 Australian Open title. But it was her first clay court match in two years, her first Slam match in 16 months and her first tour match since Miami, two months ago.
Not surprisingly, the Parisians cheered the American woman who openly speaks French. Serena didn’t look as elegant as she did at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding ten days ago, but nonetheless she turned heads.
Hair in a tight bun, wearing a snug bold black body suit that displayed her ample, athletic body, Serena was stunning.
Her play wasn’t. Her movement didn’t impress. Her footwork at times faltered. At one point she slipped and fell in a heap. The sport’s great queen was humbled.
Still, overall her play against a modest rival – the No. 70 ranked Kristyna Pliskova, who has never won a French Open match – was more than enough to end her two-match losing streak. Serena’s 7-6, 6-4 first round victory over her Czech foe was just what she wanted: match competition and a modest confidence booster.
She’ll need it. Her next foe is the personable, upward-trending Aussie Ash Barty, the No. 17 seed.
To many, Serena’s post-match press conference was more compelling than her match. There she spoke of the presence of African-Americans at the royal wedding, her experiences as a mother, her extensive breastfeeding and, of course, her stunning catsuit. She emphasized that she puts her daughter first, along with God and family. And, after these, everything else falls into place.
Serena told IT it was really exciting to see so much African American culture at the Royal wedding. “It impacted the wedding. I was really happy that Meghan [Markle] wanted to incorporate that. It was just a whole cultural shift…It was seeing how far African Americans have come – it was an incredibly inspiring and beautiful and really motivating thing. I was so proud of her and so happy for her.”
Clearly, Serena sees herself as a woman warrior and/or a superwoman. She called her outfit “Catsuit 2.0” and said it was Wakanda-inspired (think the “Black Panther” movie). She said the stunning outfit not only helps her with blood clots, it was “an homage to all those mothers out there. It says they can be a mom and still be a bad-ass…It wasn’t easy to come back, with everything I’ve been through…There have been so many other women that have been through the same thing, and we just don’t talk about it, so no one really knows about it. But now that we’ve [gotten] that platform and are talking about it, I’m vocal about it…This suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally [and] physically…to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves. I definitely feel like it’s an opportunity for me to inspire a whole different group of amazing women and kids…A lot of people have really reached out, because they have so many similar stories.”
