The Williams family have come to the rescue of women’s tennis yet again. Serena was superb as she crushed poor Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-3 in a singles final that last just 59 minutes and the younger sister was no less competitive the day before when she and Venus defeated Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama to take their eighth Grand Slam doubles crown.
And the Bryan twins stepped up, too, proving how much the fortunes of American tennis depends on just two families by winning their third Australian doubles title with a great comeback victory Over Mark Knowles and Mahesh Bhupathi 2-6, 5-7, 6-0.
As I was suggesting two weeks ago, the Williams sisters can win just about whenever they want and where they want and at least the Sony Ericsson WTA ranking list will now partially reflect that fact because this win puts Serena back at the top of the tree for the third time in her career. Unlike Safina who felt the pressure because she, too, would have become No. 1 had she won, Serena said she forgot all about it until someone reminded her at courtside after the match. She does, however, intend to make a concerted effort to stay there this time, having lost the top spot after just four weeks last fall.
Despite having some problem with her form in early rounds and probably needing the cover of the roof as protection from the burning sun after losing the first set to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter finals, Serena’s mood remained upbeat throughout the championships and she was glowing with happiness by the time she arrived in press conference in an elegant black dress, hair coiffed and makeup in place.
Ubaldo Scanagatta from Florence, who cannot resist a little Italian flattery on these occasions, was moved to ask, "We’ve been waiting for you a little while. The way you are dressed, you look as if someone waiting for you."
Serena laughed. "I wish someone was waiting for me. Unfortunately, gosh, no one is waiting for me. I always bring an outfit for the championships. I always try to think positive and I think it helps me be able to win."
She also thought that watching the men had inspired her. "Watching some of the men’s tennis — they were playing really well," she said referring to the Nadal -Verdasco classic of the previous evening. "I was really inspired. It was crazy. I thought I could do a little better. Just all the inspirations kind of added up. I just felt, going in to day, I didn’t have much to lose. Just go out and do my best. And, yes, I definitely think it was one of my most dominant performances, especially considering it was a final. I was just able to life the level of my game."
Serena thought that winning the doubles with Venus had helped, too. During her practice session the previous day she had paid special attention to practicing her service returns. "I worked a lot on returning serves," she said. "I figure I don’t need to work that much on the forehands because I play doubles on that side. So I was working a lot on the ad side."
So poor Safina had no where to go with her malfunctioning serve. Left or right, the ball still came back like a bullet, frequently leaving her stranded like a tall, helpless statue on her baseline. And even when she got a good, clean hit on the ball which she did frequently, Serena just lapped up the power and spat it back at her. Sitting in the Australian Open radio commentary box, which is situated at about knee level just behind the deuce court to the left of the umpire’s chair, the temptation was to duck when a Williams shot fizzed towards us, even though we were protected by unbreakable glass.
Unbreakable faith in her ability to win is what drives Serena on and makes her what she has become — a phenomenal tennis player and the biggest prize money earner of any female athlete worldwide. We will just have to see how committed she remains in the coming months.
On a day marred by the heart attack suffered by Tennis Australian CEO Steve Wood — he is recovering in hospital — a lunch laid on to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Rod Laver’s second Grand Slam offered a happy diversion. All four of his opponents in the four finals he played in 1969 were in attendance and humor was in plentiful supply as Andres Gimeno of Spain, who lost in the Australian Open final (then played at Kooyong); Ken Rosewall, the loser at Roland Garros; John Newcombe, the finalist at Wimbledon and Tony Roche who couldn’t prevent the Rocket completed the Slam at Forest Hills were up at the head table swapping memories and the sly digs that pals and competitors nurse through the years.
Laver recalled how he played the last three sets in the rain delayed final at Forest Hills in spikes after losing the first set and had always been perplexed that Roche opted to play on with regular shoes. When the MC John Fitzgerald asked Roche why he hadn’t swapped his footwear, Tony deadpanned, "We didn’t have spikes in Tarcutta."
As the Roche family’s phone number at the time was Tarcutta One, you could believe him. Small New South Wales towns were not equipped with many modern amenities in 1969.
It was no surprise that a bevy of great champions showed up to honor The Rocket who remains one of the most popular men ever to play the game. Starting with the evergreen Frank Sedgman who won Wimbledon in 1952 and on through Neale Fraser, Ashley Cooper, Geoff Masters, Martina Navratilova, Darren Cahill, Tracy Austin, Henri Leconte, John Alexander, John Lloyd, Mansour Bahrami, Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde and Jim Courier, the room was packed with a goodly collection of the game’s greatest players. None greater, however, than the little red head with the mighty left arm from Rockhampton, Queensland who had flown the Pacific from his long time residence in southern California to view his stadium and join his friends.
