The US Open begins tomorrow – and whereas there will probably be a highlight on British defending champion Emma Raducanu, all of the discuss within the first few days will probably be about Serena Williams.
Will it’s her ultimate Grand Slam? Probably.
Her ultimate event? Probably, too, though in her goodbye letter in Vogue she did depart the door open a bit bit.
But most predict that Flushing Meadows will probably be an emotional final hurrah for the 23-time Grand Slam champion – 23 years after she received right here as a 17-year-old.
It is a tennis story that will probably be informed for so long as the game exists: how a poor black woman from Compton, Los Angeles, alongside along with her sister Venus and coached by her dad, grew to become the best feminine participant ever to play the sport.
Arguably she is the best of all gamers, man or lady – somebody who has transcended the game for greater than twenty years.
Tennis commentator Annabel Croft believes there will probably be loads of disappointment on the finish of this event.
“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 stated.
Williams can even 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 hall which leads straight off the gamers’ entrance to Arthur Ashe Stadium is flanked by images of tennis greats and, win or lose, the gamers must stroll down it to succeed in the locker room.
It tends to be an emotional few metres if a participant is retiring: cameras are allowed in and there is nowhere to cover in case you are feeling overwhelmed, as Andre Agassi found as he bid farewell to tennis right here in 2006.
He hobbled alongside this brief run of carpet in floods of tears, looking for his spouse, Steffi Graf. The finality of enjoying his final ever tennis match launched an enormous quantity of grief. It was heartbreaking to observe.
There are prone to be much more tears from Serena, whose love affair with tennis has lasted her complete life, give or take a couple of breaks right here and there.
But may there be yet one more chapter to put in writing? Could this be the fairytale goodbye in New York for Serena?
It’s unlikely she is going to even get near that elusive twenty fourth main title right here as a result of she’s performed so little tennis.
She popped up at Wimbledon, shedding in a dramatic first spherical match to Harmony Tan, and her build-up on the laborious courts since then has not been noteworthy: a second spherical loss in Toronto and a crushing first-round straight units defeat in Cincinnati by the hands of reigning US Open champion Raducanu.
For the British primary, it was a confidence-boosting efficiency simply in time for her return to the scene of her life-changing 10-match run final summer season.
And what a privilege to have the ability to say that she shared a court docket with the good Serena Williams, who even at 40 and ranked over 400 on the planet nonetheless possesses the best serve the ladies’s sport has ever seen.
But what can we count on because the American legend “evolves away from tennis” and strikes on to the subsequent stage of her life?
She will imagine she has an opportunity of successful this US Open as a result of that’s her modus operandi and he or she has a winnable first-round match towards Montenegro’s world quantity 80, Danka Kovinic.
And if Serena will get on a roll, who is aware of? But primarily based on what she’s seen this yr, Croft thinks it is unlikely she’ll make it far, noting there will probably be “so much hype around her”.
Croft added: “I don’t know how much she’s enjoying her tennis at the moment. I’m not sure how much energy she has left in her.”
Raducanu is aware of all in regards to the significance of momentum at Flushing Meadows.
A yr in the past, having come by qualifying, the little-known Brit took the draw by storm, flying by with out concern and with out dropping a set.
By the day of the ultimate, Raducanu felt invincible. Superstar standing occurred in a single day, and so did the multimillion-pound blue chip sponsorships, catapulting the Kent teenager to the highest of Forbes’ tennis wealthy listing with a fortune of £17.8m, weighing her down with expectation.
It’s been a tough first yr on tour for Raducanu, who had no time to regulate to her elevated standing when it comes to rating, event stage, energy of opponent and public notion, however Croft thinks she might have turned a nook.
“The form we saw when she beat Serena and then beat Victoria Azarenka – those two wins back to back will have given her enormous confidence, probably just what the doctor ordered,” Croft says.
So there have been some well timed wins and Raducanu has a enjoyable new coach in Dmitry Tursunov.
The draw may have been rather a lot kinder, although: the world quantity 11 begins the defence of her US Open crown towards the very skilled and gifted French participant Alize Cornet – simply in regards to the hardest draw she may have gotten.
As for the opposite Brits, Wimbledon semi-finalist Cameron Norrie has continued his glorious type onto the laborious courts and nobody will need him on the opposite facet of the online.
And Andy Murray has received himself again inside the highest 50 simply in time for his favorite slam.
Could he go on a run?
Croft says his self perception is unbelievable: “Sometimes his body isn’t quite living up to where his heart is when he’s fighting, but there’s no doubt that’s still there.
“He nonetheless believes he has a chance and he’ll by no means enter a event not considering he can win it.”
Source: information.sky.com”