From her teens to thirties, one thing remains constant, her appetence to win matches. This hunger is what defines Serena Williams as she lifted the Miami Open title for the eighth time. Enroute to the final she also notched up her 700th WTA win becoming only the third active player to join this league after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
The first of her 700 wins came way back in 1997 with a big bang as Serena beat World No. 7 Mary Piece and followed it up with another upset over World No. 4 Monica Seles that turned the cameras towards the younger of the Williams sisters. In 1999, she racked up a string of wins over Kim Clijsters, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Steffi Graf over a span of 2 weeks that won her the first Grandslam title at the US Open. Since then she has piled up 19 career grand slam titles, her recent being the Australian Open title this year.
Serena’s career graph will clearly show that she has some insurmountable peaks but also some extreme lows. The years 2004-2007 were a horrendous period, when she was suffering from serious injuries, depression and was written off by the media as her ranking dropped drastically. Injuries continued to persist as she moved forward in her professional career that resulted in her retiring hurt, withdrawing and cancelling many of her matches and tournaments.
She is a powerful hitter of the tennis ball on both flanks, forehand and backhand. Her serves are extremely powerful, consistent and accurate and is considered to be the greatest in women’s tennis history. You can be sure that Serena is at the top of her game when she shoots down aces that touch close to 200kmph. She not only has a powerful game but also a powerful mind. Her mental toughness has rescued her from improbable situations to go on to win Grandslam titles after saving match points.
A career spanning over 20 years cannot survive on shear muscle power alone, it requires a firm resolve at the mental level and a phenomenal self belief. Her career is almost halved by her various injuries, but after every injury she only returns to be stronger mentally as well as physically. At the age of 33, she is the reigning champion of the Australian Open, US Open, WTA Tour Championship and the Olympics. From World No.1 to a dip to World No. 175, from 198kmph serve to 65kmph serve, from ecstasy to despair, from sparkling smile to tears, Serena Williams is a sport, a colourful athlete and a true champion.
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