Two years in the past, Serena Williams took to Instagram to announce that the 2022 U.S. Open would mark her last act in skilled tennis. By the point she walked off the courtroom for good, she had 73 singles titles, 14 doubles majors, two blended doubles Slams, and 4 Olympic golds. These are spectacular numbers, however they don’t inform the entire story.
The Serena Impact
Battles off the courtroom formed Serena’s profession. She received pregnant. Got here again after childbirth. Redefined what a champion may seem like, how they may costume, how they may carry themselves. And by some means, within the course of, it turned an emblem for one thing greater. Women seemed as much as her, and boys weren’t ashamed to do it. She confirmed power and charm may coexist. That profitable wasn’t nearly trophies. However, if we’re being trustworthy, perhaps none of that issues as a lot because the obstacles she shattered alongside the best way. Tennis didn’t look the identical when she began. It doesn’t look the identical now.
We had many superb feminine tennis gamers, like Steffi Graf, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova. However none dared to vary tennis like Serena. She rewrote it. She turned it into one thing bolder, sooner, and extra explosive. At this time’s high gamers transfer, strike, and suppose in ways in which scream Serena’s affect. Sure, Venus began paving that street, however Serena barreled down it and left everybody else catching up.
Serena’s Accomplishments on the Discipline
Serena performed her first skilled match in 1995 when she was simply 14. By 1999, she’d graduated from Driftwood Academy and signed a $12 million take care of Puma, profitable her first Grand Slam title on the U.S. Open. In 2001, she claimed the Indian Wells title in California for the second time, and the wins stored coming. By 2002, she secured three extra Grand Slam titles: the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open.
In 2003, Serena gained the Australian Open, finishing the profession Grand Slam, which solely six ladies had achieved within the Open Period. In 2005 and 2007, she claimed the Australian Open, cementing her place on the high. However accidents piled up, losses adopted, and by the point the rankings caught up, she had slipped to 139th. By 2008, although, the comeback was on. She took the U.S. Open like she had one thing to show. She was again at it a yr later, profitable the Australian Open and Wimbledon and reclaiming her world’s number-one spot.
Then got here 2011, and with it, a blood clot in her lung. By the yr’s shut, she was profitable once more. The following yr introduced a brand new form of glory: a gold medal in singles on the London Olympics. From 2013 to 2015, it was virtually routine. Her third, fourth, and fifth seasons because the top-ranked participant. She picked up her twenty first Grand Slam and accomplished one more Serena Slam. Then, in 2017, she broke Steffi Graf’s Open Period file along with her twenty third Grand Slam on the Australian Open. When she got here again in 2018, ranked 549th, it was clear this wasn’t a swan music however a continuation.
Nonetheless, all issues have their time. In 2022, she returned for the final US Open and lit the on-line betting world. On the time, she had probably the most US Open future bets throughout a number of sportsbooks, and regardless that she was an underdog towards Anett Kontaveit, individuals have been nonetheless betting on her. However after that event and years of dominance, she determined it was sufficient. Retirement was about getting into new tasks and dedicating her time to her household.
Brilliant-colored Undershorts
Serena is accountable for reshaping ladies’s tennis vogue. For many years, the game’s apparel was closely gendered and tradition-bound. Wimbledon nonetheless enforces an all-white costume code. However in 2010 and 2012, Serena fought this rigidity, sporting bright-colored undershorts throughout play. His wasn’t nearly garments.
Serena’s story by no means was nearly tennis. Go searching on the US Open. The gang itself is proof of change. Twenty-five years in the past, the scene was a lot completely different. Because of Serena and Venus, individuals of color began collaborating on and off the courtroom. Solely Evonne Goolagong and Zina Garrison reached a grand slam last as black ladies within the Open period for many years. However within the final 5 years, we’ve got Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Naomi Osaka, and Coco Gauff.
