The Spin Team
And before everyone gets up in their feelings, the title of this piece is not to compare Serena to an animal. Read on for more insight.
In 1994 and 1995, Richard Williams was proudly talking about his daughter Venus Williams. While everyone was praising Venus, Richard said that he has another one at home who was meaner. Her name, Serena.
She was mean. She didn't smile. she didn't joke around. She came to play. She took names. She made the champions of the day seem mediocre. She was a champion. She played like one. She spoke like one and she collected titles.
During her reign atop the women's field, the narrative surrounding Serena was always about her intimidation factor. Players supposedly lost before setting foot on the court. 6-1, 6-0 scorelines were par for the course. Whenever Serena was scheduled to play a match, you had to make sure to find a livestream because if you blinked and you missed it. Yet, it was ability to read the game that was unsurpassed. She never quite got credit for her tennis acumen. It was always about her power. The usual tropes that have been used to describe black female athletes was systematically used to discuss Serena.
When she played the likes of Henin, Clijsters, Dementieva, Ivanovic, Jankovic etc., it was always about how she used her power to intimidate her opponents. Her mental toughness was never mentioned and her ability to play her way out of tight situations and to think outside the box during tight matches were very often ignored.
While she racked up titles and made millions from her job, the endorsement market was never her friend. Each year as Forbes published its list of marketable female athletes, the GOAT of female athletes was usually way down in the bottom of the barrel. The likes of Ivanovic and Sharapova, blessed with tennis talent but limited results were literally being paid for their looks. Theg were getting large clothing contracts and were being styled by some of the biggest designers.
It was in 2007 that Serena I believed finally got her recognition. Ranked No. 81 in the world she would struggle through the 2007 Australian Open draw, taking out some of the biggest names in tennis and suffering through some of the most vitriolic commentary, both audio and the written word, talking about her weight, that she was finished, and that she would never reach the pinnacle of women's tennis ever again. As far as people like Pat Cash was concerned, Serena was done. The game had passed her by.
Serena struggled. She spoke about seeing a therapist to help her deal with the death of her sister, Yetunde who was murdered. She spoke about losing her love for tennis and that if it wasn't for Venus she would have retired. Yet, she persevered and silenced her naysayers.
It has been a long and arduous process for the GOAT of female athletes.
In 2010, after winning Wimbledon and while out partying, Serena suffered a life threatening injury which caused her to develop a pulmonary embolism. From that point on, Serena has had to take blood thinners while travelling and has to ensure that she wears clothing that will limit her chances of developing a blood clot.
Things were not easy but being the champion that she is, Serena has soldiered on. With a new team by her side, Serena went to new heights. The aim: chasing history.
First, she came for Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Stuck at 18, Serena surpassed both women. We all remember the angst of Martina who opined that had she known that Slams would be so valuable, she would have played more of them.
Then she went for Graf and the Calendar Year Grand Slam - she got Graf's record, but not the calendar Year Grand Slam. Now she is after Margaret Court and history. However, while going for history, Serena took a step off her career path. She had a baby and got married. She also nearly lost her life (again) giving birth.
Her comeback after giving birth has been a boon to tennis and marketers. For the first time in her wonderful career, she has made it to the top of Forbes' list of top earning female athletes. She has been on the cover of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Essence and many other top of the line magazines. She has been to the Royal wedding of her friend Meghan Markel and has been booked on numerous speaking engagements. The advocacy of her and her husband regarding issues that affect parents have made many people sit up and take notice of the various issues of which she has become an advocate. Serena, fierce competitor, winner of titles and taker of names is finally being recognised for who she is and what she brings to the table. Everywhere, except for tennis.
I can recall many players who have suffered injuries. Some of them were career ending. There have been times when networks have brought in medical experts to talk about the effect of injuries and how it affects players, especially when they are returning to their chosen sport. I am sure we all recall the many articles that were written by tennis writers quoting medical personnel about Nadal's knees, Djokovic's shoulder, Sharapova's shoulder and the list goes on. I am sure that someone will correct me but I can't recall anyone within the sport writing a piece about Serena since her return where they have spoken about her medical issues and how that may have affected her return to the tennis.
As Kim Clijsters makes her return to tennis once more, we recall the many stories that were told about how challenging it was for her to be a wife and mother and how she was managing to win despite the odds. Clijsters was then 26 years old. Serena is 37.
We recall the questions that were asked of Federer after his wife (not him) gave birth to his children. How does he do it? What motivates him? How does he manage his days what with training and bottle feeding? Federer had to remind them that most of the work was being done by his wife and the wonderful team that he had around him.
In 2018 when Serena played the French Open wearing a full body suit, rather than examine the reason why she had to wear the body suit, many journalists went the easy route. She wore it because she could. She wore it for fashion and attention. Listening to commentary, especially US commentary, it is clear that the human side of Serena does not exist in the minds of commentators.
In every match that I have listened to since Serena's return, most of the commentary team has had a female voice. Most, if not all of those female voices are women who have borne children. I detect no empathy, no understanding, no words of explanation to the viewing public to celebrate what we are seeing in this amazing athlete. Rather, all we hear are the same talking points. Her intimidation factor is gone. These girls are not afraid of her any more. She can't overpower them like she used to.
Not once have I heard a discussion surrounding the reason why Serena felt the need to see a therapist after the US Open final in 2018. Not once has anyone addressed what might be affecting the toughest player mentally ever to play this sport to phase out during the finals of Grand Slams. There is no doubt that Serena still has the game to beat anyone on any given day. The issue that arises is why is she freezing in these key moments? Why does she seem paralysed by the fear of winning?
One person has posited that perhaps the reason why Serena seems unable to get over the hump of reaching 24 is one of 2 reasons: (1) when she gets to 24 what next? What will push her further? What will inspire her to win another one and another one? (2) when she does get to 24, will the ever moving goal posts keep moving? Will tennis find some Mary-Lou who played in some obscure tournament many years ago and who won 30 Grand Slams be the new benchmark?
I have borne a child. Granted mine was not a C-section but I was in labour for a very long time. I have also suffered a miscarriage and I know how challenging it was to expel that child from my body. I know what post partum depression can do to you. I know what depression on a whole can do to you. I know what it is like to wonder if you have reached the peak of your career and where do you go next?
I would hope that as tennis punditry consider Serena's life and legacy that they discuss her humanity. Discuss the fact that she is a woman with feelings. That Serena bleeds. That Serena while portraying strength is vulnerable to many things, the least of which is the pressure that she places on herself to be the best that she can be. I know that Serena says that a lot and many of us dismiss it, but when she is doing the best that she can, it never ever seems to be enough. Maybe it's because most people never believed that Serena was the best because of her hard work and skill; they dismissively assumed it was all without effort.
I believe the time has come for us to discuss the human side of Serena. We may not have any of the answers, but it behoves us to not treat this wonderful athlete who has provided so much inspiration to so many not as a thing without feelings but as a human being who is going through possibly one of the toughest moments of her storied career.
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