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Wimbledon 2018: Serena Williams’ quest one for the ages

The real cause of wonder for Serena Williams and Roger Federer are the numbers on their birth certificates

Serena Williams acknowledges the crowd after her quarter-final win over Italy's Camila Giorgi. Picture: AP
Serena Williams acknowledges the crowd after her quarter-final win over Italy's Camila Giorgi. Picture: AP

Serena Williams may slip into her best tennis attire, kiss her little darling goodbye, tell her to stay with papa for a while because mumma just needs to duck down the road for another Wimbledon-semi-final, power past Julia Goerges tonight and then wipe the floor with whoever she plays in the final to match Margaret Court’s record for the most major tournament victories in the century-old competitive history of this wonderful sport.

And everyone will say oh my god Serena, you’ve done it as a mother! But we’re focusing on the wrong achievement here. It’ll be a powerful moment if Williams wins her first slam since the arrival of little m’am.

She’s had fierce private battles in her lifetime. And yet motherhood is no hindrance to her cause. It’s the great blessing on her life. It’s the best and most emotional thing that’s ever happened to her. It helps her as a human and an athlete rather than doing any sort of harm. If she’s been packing supermarket shelves to put food on the table every night, fair enough.

But Williams has a little help around the place. She can afford the day care. She has increased responsibilities and time pressures but all of them are meaningful and worthwhile. The parenting duties are the least of her concerns. When the delightfully silly old coot Roger Federer, 36, has won the Australian Open, not even the most hysterical of commentators on Channel Seven has shrieked oh my god Roger, you’ve done it with four kids!

The real cause of wonder are the numbers on their birth certificates. To become the second oldest female Wimbledon champion will be the accomplishment for Williams. In more than a hundred years of the most famous tournament in the sport, only Charlotte Cooper Sterry will have done it so long after she was born. Williams plays Georges tonight. Jelena Ostapenko and Angelique Kerber are in the other semi-final.

OLDEST WIMBLEDON WOMEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION
OLDEST WIMBLEDON WOMEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION

Cooper Sterry, of course, has played in an era completely unrecognisable from today. She’s owned the grand sum of two racquets — one for practising in poor weather, the other for matches and fairweather practice. She’s ridden her bicycle to the courts, picking up her trophy and hauling it home in the manner of someone winning a club championship down at the local courts on a Saturday afternoon. After winning her fifth Wimbledon singles title in 1908, everyone has said oh my god Charlotte, you’re 37! No-one has bothered too much with another part of her life. She’s also a mother of two.

Williams is the great survivor of her times. She’s going to milk every last drop from this all-conquering career. Career-wise, the only downside to motherhood is being off the tour for more than a year. Losing match fitness and toughness. But they’re both retrievable.

She’s immensely satisfied with her life and yet there’s a little voice in her head that tells her she still needs to improve. She’s previously been asked, what’s your greatest win? She’s replied, my next one. It’s more complicated now. She’s cried when she’s missed her daughter’s first steps because she was at training. But complicated doesn’t mean it’s worse. She has time on her side as a mother but the clock is ticking on her career. The perfectionist remains in all these older athletes. As Bille-Jean King said when she won Wimbledon as a 31-year-old, “Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

It will be a beautiful sight if Williams is handed the Wimbledon trophy while her girl is watching in her miniature white dress … without the faintest clue about what’s going on. But it’s no fait accompli. Williams is better off for being a mother. She’s worse off for turning 37 in September. She’s revelling in being a bit of an underdog for a change but she still feels like number one. She’s walked off centre court this week with her right index finger in the air. There’s her take on what her world ranking should be.

“I just kept fighting,” Williams said after clawing past Italy’s Camila Giorgi 3-6 6-3 6-4 to reach the semi-finals. “Everything right now is a little bit of a surprise. To be here. To be in the semi-finals. I mean, I always say I plan on it. I would like to be there, have these goals. But when it actually happens it’s still like, ‘Wow. this is really happening.’ I feel good. I felt like I did better today. I had to. But this is only my fourth tournament back so I didn’t feel any pressure that I had to win this. I’m here just to prove that I’m back. And I feel like I’m back.”

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/tennis/wimbledon-2018-serena-williams-quest-one-for-the-ages/news-story/194abd1f6d1ddc27fa89bc5370f5ccbe