It is a tennis story that will be told for as long as the sport exists: how a poor black girl from Compton, Los Angeles, along with her sister and coached by her dad, became the greatest female player ever to play the game, says Sky’s Jacquie Beltrao.
The US Open starts tomorrow – and while there will be a spotlight on British defending champion Emma Raducanu, all the talk in the first few days will be about Serena Williams.
Will it be her final Grand Slam? Probably.
Her final tournament? Probably, too, although in her goodbye letter in Vogue she did leave the door open a little bit.
But most are expecting that Flushing Meadows will be an emotional last hurrah for the 23-time Grand Slam champion – 23 years after she won here as a 17-year-old.
It is a tennis story that will be told for as long as the sport exists: how a poor black girl from Compton, Los Angeles, along with her sister Venus and coached by her dad, became the greatest female player ever to play the game.
Arguably she is the greatest of all players, man or woman – someone who has transcended the sport for more than two decades.
Tennis commentator Annabel Croft believes there will be a lot of sadness at the end of this tournament.
« Most of the players have so much admiration for what she’s achieved, how she’s taken women’s tennis to new levels, set the bar, » Croft said.
Williams will also be remembered for « how she plays tactically and physically and even the glamour that she’s brought », Croft added.
« She’s leaving her mark and there’s a lot of sadness we won’t see her again. She had such an overwhelming record against her rivals that it was difficult to say she had any rivals because she had such a great record against all of them. »
A corridor which leads straight off the players’ entrance to Arthur Ashe Stadium is flanked by photographs of tennis greats and, win or lose, the players have to walk down it to reach the locker room.
