The greatest sportswoman of all time should pay attention to singer Gladys Knight, one of the many celebrity spectators in the audience on the sidelines in New York this week: “Baby Don’t Change Your Mind.”
Asked about her Defeat in the third round of the US Open if she could reconsider her retirement plan, Serena Williams said, “I don’t think so. I’ve always loved Australia, though.”
Okay, leave the door open, never say never and all.
But Williams, 41 this month, would do well to point guns and not risk tarnishing his legacy with another half-baked attempt in Melbourne next January to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
You can’t do it, enter a Grand Slam with almost zero preparation and win seven games against the best in the world.
It is a testament to his brilliance, power and fight that he beat two opponents this week, including second-seed Anett Kontaveit.
The fight was still there when she retired, saving five match points before her final defeat was confirmed.
Image: AP
But she has the rest of her life to live.
Four-time Grand Slam finalist as a mother, she wants a second child.
She has her own fashion ventures, a charity on behalf of her murdered half-sister Yetunde, a new investment company, and a desire to continue working in the sport that she has led as a behemoth for more than two decades.
The biggest?
Statistics don’t matter. Margaret Court has won more titles, but 11 were in Melbourne in the days when the Australian Open was a very minor tournament.
Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova were world stars who achieved results both off the pitch and on.
Serena (right) and Venus Williams at the Academy Awards
No sport has produced a person like Serena
But there was no one like Serena, in any sport.
His appearance, his power, his approach – everything was different from anything we had seen before.
Trained and guided by her parents in their different ways, she, with her older sister Venus, emerged on the wrong side of the tracks in Compton, Los Angeles, to change the way women played tennis.
Hitting the ball harder than some men, Serena married her athleticism for balance, touch, courtship and grace.
How many more titles could he have won, without his myriad of projects outside of tennis, not to mention serious injuries and health problems?
Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Alexis Jr. Pic: AP
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He has transcended sport, to become one of those handful of individuals who can only be identified by their first name.
Serena has swept away conventions, broken down barriers, changed perceptions.
In the interview room he could be sharp and difficult, but on other occasions he was easygoing and funny.
He loves his music – including Gladys Knight by accident – and left court for (probably) the last time for Tina Turner’s “The Best”.
She is.
