Williams’s career is ending before it would if she were a male player, simply because she must choose between tennis and having more childrenThis was going to be about whether Serena Williams is the greatest sportswoman in history. After all, who was better?Maybe Babe Didrikson, with Olympic gold medals in two separate athletics events and 10 major wins on the LPGA tour; perhaps Larisa Latynina, who won 18 medals over three Olympic Games; or Jackie Joyner-Kersee, with her back-to-back titles in the Olympic heptathlon; or Allyson Felix, who has just retired after winning more medals than any other runner in history. From Williams’s sport there’s Martina Navratilova, with 167 singles titles and another 177 in doubles, or Steffi Graf, who...
The youngest American grand slam finalist since Serena Williams is one win away from a breakthrough major championship that’s been years in the makingOn Thursday afternoon, Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff defeated Italy’s Martina Trevisan in straight sets in the French Open semi-finals. In doing so, she racked up several superlatives, becoming, most notably, the youngest grand slam finalist in almost 20 years and the youngest American to reach a major final since her idol, Serena Williams, collected the first of her 23 grand slam titles at the 1999 US Open.Gauff advanced to Saturday’s final against Poland’s Iga Świątek, the in-form world No 1 and winner of 34 straight matches, with even bigger history in the offing. But the development is hardly...
The example are legion and tennis is scarred by the failure of the sport’s authorities to tackle a culture that enables people with abhorrent views to hold positions of powerThere has not been much reason to talk about Serena Williams lately. She last competed in late September, withdrawing from the second round of the French Open with an achilles injury, and has been resting, baking cookies with her family and training for the new season. Considering how uninteresting all of these things are, it would have been fair to assume that only when she finally began her season would she attract some attention in the new year. Related: Serena Williams' husband condemns Ion Tiriac as 'sexist clown' for swipe over...
The 38-year-old is seeking a 24th slam but there are hurdles to overcome at the US Open, starting with Maria Sakkari on MondayNobody in tennis suffers for her art like Serena Williams – except maybe her one-time doubles partner, Andy Murray. On the women’s Tour, nobody retreats into her own world so completely under pressure, external and self-induced, to then emerge like a butterfly from a chrysalis and fly free.For as long as she stays in the fight this week at Flushing Meadows, the greatest player of her generation will become more introspective, irascible, monosyllabic and explosive in pursuit of a 24th grand slam title. If she wins the final point of the tournament to move alongside Margaret Court after...
Medvedev is waiting in the wings, but it’s still all to play for between Djokovic, Federer and Nadal, while a new challenger has shown the mentality Serena Williams needs to rediscoverNovak Djokovic arrived in New York with a shoulder injury, then Roger Federer suffered a stiff neck against Grigor Dimitrov. No matter. Rafael Nadal was there to represent the big three and to take his 19th grand slam title, putting him one behind Federer. So much is on the line in these last years of their careers and each final seems to be laced with more historical significance than before. Had Nadal finished off Federer in the 2017 Australian Open final, he would already be the leader. Had Federer won...