When questions from reporters about her defeat to Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka in the semifinals of the Australian Open 2021, Serena seemed unable to hold back her tears. Then she quickly left the room. In fact, Serena Williams seemed calm at first. She tried to answer reporters’ questions as required and occasionally smiled beautifully.
What’s wrong with Serena? Some say that it is a sign that Serena might not return to the Australian Open. Serena isn’t young anymore. She’s 39 years old. Even her will is still strong, it doesn’t mean her hands and feet will be able to keep swinging the racket or even running after the ball to every corner of the court.
In Australia Open Serena is indeed the holder of seven titles – the most title holder in the Open competition. But it has been a long time since she won the Australian Open title in 2017. At that time Serena defeated her sister, Venus Williams, 6-4,6-4, which became the last grand slam title she won.
After that, Serena took a break because she gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian. After returning to tennis, Serena has never been able to win a grand slam again in 11 appearances, even though she has entered the semifinals or finals on 5 occasions.
Currently, Serena has 23 grand slam titles, only one title away from Margareth Court, which has become the most grand slam collector for women’s singles with 24 titles.
Is Serena frustrated because she can’t match this Margareth Court title?
It seems not. Eventhough she is still one title behind, Serena is the champion queen in the open era. Then some say her gesture is because she was disappointed with what was shown on the field.
From statistics, Serena’s appearance is arguably imperfect as usual. She made 18 times own mistakes, and it happened on the forehand stroke which is her strength. Something that is rare and should not happen in an important match like this.
But are technical reasons the only reason?
I don’t think so. The defeat to Naomi Osaka becomes a sign that Serena’s tennis career is in sight. Returned back to the final of the 2018 United States Open was very emotional.
Serena was involved in heated debates with the referee several times because of trivial matters. The woman, who had just become a mother at that time, shouted, then became angry, asking the audience for sympathy. On the other hand, Naomi sat there, silent, as if confused as to what was going on.
Naomi greatly admires Serena. She considers her love for tennis due to the influence of Serena. The match finally continued, and Naomi won over Serena with a score of 6-2, 6-4. After the match, in the winner speech, Naomi looked sobbing and sad. She apologized for judging the audience might want Serena to win.
During Australia Open 2021, Naomi and Serena met on the lips of the net to shake hands after the match. It was seen, repeatedly, Naomi bowed her typical Japanese head to show respect for the person she respected. This victory makes Naomi beat Serena for the third time in their five meetings, with an important note that Serena always loses to Naomi in the grand slam.
In that match, Serena seemed to face her successor with a very similar playing style. If all this time, Serena has relied on power and accuracy in her punches, then Naomi too. Though she had to admit that Naomi who is younger is superior in speed.
Talking about Naomi and how Serena’s defeat, Serena seems to be increasingly imagining that her twilight on the tennis court is in sight. Serena seemed unwilling to accept the situation. Serena seems to want to prove that she can still achieve the dream to return to become a global champion and pass the Mergareth Court record.
However, today, Serena may need to learn that it is true that you don’t stop dreaming, but not all dreams can come true.
