It was most certainly a reflection of the uncertain state of Serena Williams’ game that pundits could not agree on their Australian Open predictions. Over the last one and a half decades, their default projection had been to place her first among equals, especially in Grand Slam tournaments. Heading into the first major championship of the year, however, wariness replaced confidence, with not a few quarters finding cause, chutzpah, even, to rate, among others, 20-year-old Aryna Sabalenka (fresh off a sterling finish to 2018 and a victory at the Shenzhen Open) ahead of her.
To be sure, Williams understood from where the questions emanated. After all, she had a health scare, a difficult pregnancy, and a long layoff still visible in the rear-view mirror, with her gradual but uneven return to shape manifesting themselves in finals stints at Wimbledon and the United States Open. Given the straight-sets defeats she absorbed with the hardware in her sights, those from the outside looking in felt justified in tempering their expectations. Her advancing age didn’t help; for all her fitness, she takes longer to prepare for, and heat up in, matches.
Nonetheless, Williams set out to prove her doubters wrong. Her first presser at Melbourne Park was a revealing back and forth with scribes after an emphatic opening-round triumph. She underscored her desire to look to the future by refusing to answer queries on her disappointing finish at the US Open Final. And she was nothing if not workmanlike in her subsequent matches, with the latest a sterling stand against World Number One Simona Halep. En route to clinching a spot in the quarterfinals, she got through tough moments that indicated her capacity to rein in her emotions and deliver under pressure. (Meanwhile, Sabalenka is long gone).
No doubt, there will be more challenges for Williams. With her off-court pursuits demanding more and more of her time and attention, she’s compelled to tamp down her schedule and focus on the big events. Within tournaments, though, she’s bent on staying on point. Which means that she will be — or, rather, try to be — at her best against Karolina Pliskova in the Round of Eight, and then whoever will be up after and until she carves her intended podium finish. And, true to form, she’s not entertaining the thought of losing.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
