Serena Williams Archives

June 8, 2019June 17, 2019

There is No Such Thing as Perfect, in Tennis or in Life

While watching Naomi Osaka battle back against Victoria Azarenka in the second round at Roland Garros, I was struck not by her flair but by her flaws. I had just spent the weekend at a junior tennis tournament where I would tsk and sigh when my Junior Tennis Star hit a ball out of bounds or into the net. As Osaka clawed back the match, I began to pay attention. No one, not even the pros, have a flawless performance. I’ve touched on this before (see my February 10, 2019 post), but I could not let this perspective go as I continued to watch the French Open.

The next match was the Federer-Wawrinka match. Roger Federer is as close to perfect as you can come in my book, but he, too, had a battle against Stan Wawrinka, who for much of that match, despite his loss, was guided by the tennis gods. So, I wanted to know: in tennis, is there such thing as perfection? In bowling there is the 300 game (and, apparently, it’s all about how quickly you can bowl the perfect game — 74.9 second on June 5, 2017), and in baseball there is the no hitter, but tennis?

My research uncovered what is called the “golden set.” I know your mind just went to R. Kelly, but focus here! A golden set is a set which is won without losing a point. This means 4 points in each game times 6 games, or 24 flawless points without conceding a point to your opponent. That sounds easy enough, right? It’s the same as carrying two cartons of eggs home from the grocery store without cracking an egg. Or not checking FaceBook for a full day, or 24 hours.

But in tennis, perfection is elusive. In pro tennis, only three golden sets have occurred. In 1943, Pauline Betz won the Tri-State tournament in Cincinnati, defeating Catherine Wolf which included a first golden set, and Bill Scanlon had a golden second set in his win over Marcos Hocevar at the 1983 Delray Beach WCT event. More recently, Yaroslava Shvedova had a first golden set in her win over Sara Errani in the third round at Wimbledon in 2012. Shevedova was unaware she made history with her flawless performance until she got back to the locker room.

The New York Times reporting of Shevedova’s performance, well worth the read, reminded me of a passage from one of my favorite novels, Brideshead Revisited, where Charles, at Sebastian’s urging, paints a landscape on the walls of the office at Brideshead: “Here, in one of the smaller oval frames, I sketched a romantic landscape, and in the days that followed filled it out in colour, and by luck and the happy mood of the moment, made a success of it. The brush seemed somehow to do what was wanted of it. It was a landscape without figures, a summer scene of white cloud and blue distances, with an ivy-clad ruin in the foreground, rocks and waterfall affording a rugged introduction to the receding parkland behind. I knew little of oil painting and learned its ways as I worked.” If you have ever taken paint to paper or canvas and were pleased with the result, you would grasp this elevated, outer-body feeling of being guided by a larger force captured so perfectly by both Evelyn Waugh and the New York Times.

But I say this for myself, especially, but also for you: do not chase perfection because you will never catch it. Martina Navratilova, Roger Federer, Steffi Graf or Serena Williams never did. Stop worrying about your hair or the dust bunnies in your kitchen. Don’t fret about your junior tennis star’s mis-hits into the net or wild wacks out of bounds because they will always occur. Think, just think right now, what at this moment is making you happy and focus on it…

March 14, 2019April 6, 2019

The Ugly Secret of Indian Wells

The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California has an ugly secret. As a relative newcomer to watching pro tennis, references to Serena and Venus Williams’ multi-year absence from Indian Wells caught my attention. The commentators never explained, and each time the Williams sisters took to the court, they were wildly applauded and adored, as they always are. But back in 2001, that wasn’t the case.

In 2001, the year Roger Federer won his first title (see my 3/3/19 Commentary), the Williams sisters were to play each other in the semi-finals of what was then known as the Tennis Masters Series Indian Wells, the second biggest tennis tournament in the United States. A fellow player publicly accused their father, Richard Williams, of deciding the matches between the sisters. When Venus retired (i.e., withdrew) due to an injury minutes before the match, seemingly proving the allegation, the crowd booed. When Serena, then a teenager, went to play in the finals, the booing continued. When Venus, then only 20 years old, and her father were spotted coming down the stairs of the venue to watch the finals – you can find this footage on youtube –the fans booed and jeered. Mr. Williams told the media that the tennis fans were name calling (you know the word they used), and one said “If it were ’75, we’d skin you alive.” Mr. Williams said he stopped and looked at the person but continued on, and you can see his pause, his hesitation in the footage. While this occurred in sunny, southern California, known for its cool, laid-back vibe, the crowd was fierce and ugly.

I can’t imagine how that would affect a 19 year old girl, especially one who called that part of the country home. A reporter noted that Serena’s double faults and mis-hits into the net caused the crowd to celebrate. But after losing the first set amid this angry and hostile crowd, Serena turned inward and won the match, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2. Even after her victory, the crowd both cheered and booed. And how did that 19-year old version who would become the GOAT handle it? She said, “’I’d like to thank everyone who supported me, and if you didn’t, I love you guys anyway,” when she accepted her trophy and purse. Yet in an interview she gave afterwards she revealed, “It has been difficult for me to forget spending hours crying in the Indian Wells locker room after winning in 2001, driving back to Los Angeles feeling as if I had lost the biggest game ever — not a mere tennis game but a bigger fight for equality.” Knowing about this 2001 incident puts the 2018 U.S. Open finals into context for me – why Serena so fiercely and rightly defended her integrity in response to the coaching charge.

Serena boycotted Indian Wells for 14 years; Venus for 15. Venus wrote a beautiful, heartfelt essay explaining her decision to follow her sister and return to the tournament, which you can read here.

We were delighted to see Venus, now age 38, reach the quarter finals in this year’s Indian Wells tournament, though she fell in straight sets to Angie Kerber.

February 24, 2019March 10, 2019

Serena’s Oscar Awards Ceremony Style.

The GOAT aced the 2019 red carpet in a black strapless gown with a red crystal heart motif. The gown was an Armani Privé, Armani’s high-end, custom couture line. Her coiffure was equally elegant in a long, slick ponytail. She took the stage during the ceremony to present a clip for Best Picture nominee A Star Is Born. For someone experienced being on center court and under pressure, her voice was a bit shaky on center stage!

Earlier this week reporters spotted Serena in NYC having dinner with Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, who was in town for her baby shower, which would explain why Qai Qai was spotted in a NYC pizza joint and on the set of a television show with Olympia’s father. (As an aside, Qai Qui has more Instagram followers than many of the pros on tour). Check out the Pro Shop themed by Serena’s Red Carpet Style.

February 23, 2019March 23, 2019

Tennis Watching Time.

Written by Guest Contributor and Tennis Player SHL

During the Australian Open, one could not help but be aware of the time. Not only was there the 16 hour time difference, but the Rolex clock, the official time keeper of the Aussie Open, was a constant reminder that day was night, night was in the morning, and the matches were on tape delay.

More interesting to the horologists, though, were the watches we were watching while watching tennis.

The grandest timepiece of the first Grand Slam of the year was worn by Rafael Nadal, the brand ambassador for Richard Mille since 2010. Rafa was wearing their latest and greatest, a RM 27-03, weighing in at 20 grams, or about the weight of 8 pennies. The watch can withstand shocks of 10,000g’s and is powered by tourbillion with 70 hours of power reserve. Designed in the colors of the flag of Spain, it retails for $725,000. Because it is made in a limited edition of 50 pieces, only Rafa, you, and 48 other people in the world would have one if you chose to splurge.

Alas, though, even with all that technology and tourbillion power on his wrist, Rafa was no match for Novak Djokovic, who wore the Seiko Astron GPS Solar watch, but only for the trophy presentation. Djokovic has been on team Seiko since 2014.

On the women’s side, the current number 1 player and Australian Open winner, Naomi Osaka, sported the new CITIZEN Eco-Drive Bluetooth BZ4004-06E featuring the brand’s proprietary Super Titanium 2 strong and lightweight case. The watch is priced at 75,000 ¥, which equates to about $680. The new style will be released on March 7, 2019 in a limited production of 1,000 units. Previously Osaka won the US Open wearing the CITIZEN Eco-Drive Bluetooth BZ4006-01E. I was momentarily distracted when I noticed this this watch during her match because of the distinctive orange strap. CITIZEN boasts that the vivid orange color motif is inspired by Osaka’s “striking, dynamic tennis performance style.” Osaka has been its brand ambassador since September of 2018.

In Melbourne, Osaka beat Petra Kvitova, who is a TAG Heuer brand ambassador. Osaka won in New York at the U.S. Open by defeating Serena Williams, who wore her Audemars Piguet Millenary.

Because time and tennis go hand-in-hand, keep watching!

February 10, 2019March 10, 2019

The Australian Open and Insomnia: Thoughts Deep in the Night or Deep Thoughts in the Night?

A benefit of the 16 hour time difference with Melbourne, Australia is that you can watch tennis when you wake up at 3:00 a.m. It was exquisite: turn the TV on, watch the match in the Rod Laver Arena and then be lulled back to sleep by the pop, whoo, pop, whoo, pop, whoo…. But my take away after the conclusion of this year’s first Grand Slam event is that professional tennis players are just like us.

We expect professionals to be perfect. But that’s simply not true. The Australian Open showed that the pros are just like us.

Pros whiff balls, as Rafa did in the finals; they crash and burn and then remerge like a phoenix, sometimes all in the same match, as darling Naomi Osaka did in the women’s finals; they crumble before our very eyes, as both GOATs did; and they make fashion statements that make us scratch our heads. Several hold a place in our hearts with their beaming smiles or their dimples (we love you, Sloane!). A few capture our hearts by their fierce appearance on the scene, such as Frances Tiafoe, whom we loved watching play with Serena at the Hopman Cup. Some delight us with the upset, such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, and others by their nearly flawless performance, such as Djokovic’s in the men’s finals. And some touch to our hearts with the obstacles they’ve overcome, like Petra Kvitova.

So if you are frustrated on the court, in the office or at home because things are not going your way, remember: the pros are like us and have bad days too.