Considering the ease with which Serena Williams claimed the second and third sets of her campaign-opening match in the French Open the other day, it’s clear that she still possesses the power, precision, and, perhaps most importantly, passion to stamp her class in the sport’s grandest stages. That she succumbed to unseeded Vitalia Diatchenko in the first set after claiming only two games, however, likewise underscores her increasing vulnerability at this stage in her career. She had been ousted in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament just once in 70 previous appearances, but, for a while there, she looked legitimately out of sorts and in danger of early elimination anew.
To be fair, only a player of Williams’ stature and standing can lay claim to fellow-favorite status at 37, not to mention coming off a complicated pregnancy and life-threatening ailments. Even as the red clay at Roland Garros can stunt the efficacy of her groundstrokes and lengthen rallies to the detriment of competitors in her age bracket, she knows her biggest asset — and that which has separated her from the best of the best — remains her utter refusal to lose. Even in seemingly difficult situations, she is invariably able to find the spirit to summon her best, or close to her best.
The other day, for instance, Williams could have fallen prey to the temptation of folding under duress, especially since she could lean on a variety of excuses, including a recurring injury to her left knee, to justify the development. Parenthetically, she had just 10 matches under her belt for the year, making rust alone an understandable reason. Instead, she saw fit to overcome her self-doubt by internalizing; down 15-30 on serve to start the second set, she let out a primal yell that served to calm her down. She buckled down to work, winning the next three points to claim the first game — and then 11 of the next 12 to move on.
How well Williams will fare from here on is anybody’s guess. She lasted all of three rounds before pulling out due to injury last year, and it’s not a good sign that withdrawals marked the last three events she was slated to enter in. For now, though, she’s around — a critical step en route to her intent to win for the first time since the 2017 Australian Open. And for as long as she’s betting on herself, fans are hard-pressed not to do the same.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
