As predicted, Serena Williams dominated her semifinal match with Maria Sharapova yesterday at Wimbledon. Like, Maria didn’t even stand a chance. That was the 17th straight loss for Maria when playing Serena. So, Serena is on to the finals. She’ll be playing Garbine Maguruza, a Spanish lady currently ranked #20. Serena is widely expected to win the final, which will mean she’s pulled off the spectacular feat of the “Serena Slam” – she’ll collect her fourth major Grand Slam title in a year, having already won the U.S. Open, Australian Open and French Open. She last pulled off the Serena Slam in 2003. Which is crazy, right? When she was dominated in 2003, who would have thought that we’d be here in 2015 talking about another Serena Slam? After she destroyed Sharapova, Serena laughed off the talk of the Serena Slam:
“I’ve won so many grand slam titles. And I’m at a position where I don’t need to win another Wimbledon…I could lose tomorrow (Saturday). Sure, I won’t be happy. But I don’t need another Wimbledon title. I don’t need another U.S. Open. I don’t need any titles to make it. Every time I step out on court, the practice court, the match court, I do look at it as a more fun time because it’s not as much stressful as it was. Like getting to 18 was super stressful for me. It was fun, but I was so stressed out…I get nervous every time I walk out on the court. I think that is a special feeling. I’ll be concerned if I wasn’t nervous. I’ll be like, Ooh. Maybe it’s not the same for me and doesn’t mean as much for me.”
Serena also spent some time with the Wimbledon press corps talking about sexism and her BFF Caroline Wozniacki. Caroline and Serena are super-tight, and Caroline lost in the fourth round of Wimbledon this year. When Caroline was doing press, she complained about the fact that Wimbledon organizers prioritize the mens’ matches on the bigger, more presitgious courts while even top-ranked women have to play on the lesser courts. When asked about it, Serena agreed with her friend, saying:
“Every year there’s two men’s and one women’s match on the main courts, Court No. 1 as well as on Centre Court. We’re still fighting on that. We’ve made some progress but hopefully we’ll keep making more progress. We made sure that women have more featured matches. It’s just a little bit at a time. Hopefully we’ll get to the point where we’ll even have more featured matches. I don’t think it’s limited to Wimbledon. We have this problem at a lot of different tournaments. Pretty much most of the tournaments that are both men and women. So I think it doesn’t start here. It’s a huge conversation that we have to have.”
Usually, Serena doesn’t speak out on this kind of thing – after getting burned a handful of times by daring to be unguarded in the press, Serena usually takes a decidedly apolitical position on most subjects. But hearing her talk about this makes me hope that she could become some Billie Jean King figure, a transformative athlete influencing the gender politics of tennis/sports. After Serena spoke, a spokesperson for the All England Club (they run Wimbledon) released a statement: “The scheduling of the program of matches to be played each day at The Championships is a complex operation. It may not be possible to satisfy the often conflicting requests, but in all cases fairness will be the objective.” Blah. Basically “we’re an old boys’ club, what did you expect?”
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet and Pacific Coast News.
Tennis is the only popular sport where women are more interesting to watch than the men. Otherwise, snoozefest.
Actually I find both a bit boring now. I loved the men’s tournaments back in the Nadal/Federer era (who doesn’t remember the full day Wimbledon final?) but I don’t care for Djokovic’s dominance because I don’t like him or his style of play at all. Despite rooting for Murray on occasion, it’s all pretty much top heavy. I long for a time when a journeyman wins Wimbledon or one of the opens.
The women’s side can sometimes be more unpredictable earlier on in a tournament but by the end, it’s clear Serena will win because no one comes close to her talent and athleticism. I’m happy for her and I do like to see her play but it’s a bit boring overall.
Glad I’m not the only one that misses the Nadal/Federer era. I love Women’s tennis but there’s never multiple women dominating at once which is boring. I usually watch the Quarters on for Women’s tournaments. For men yea without the rivalry I just don’t watch as much. That all day match was amazing. We scheduled our lunch time at Disney to watch the rest. lol
I don’t like Djokovic either. I am hoping someone like Raonic can get more consistent and start beating him. As for Rafa and Roger, I still root for them, but it seems for both that they are slowly becoming less dominant.
Me too!
Loved the Nadal-Federer rivalry! It’s so boring now without them.
I love watching women’s soccer, volleyball, and college softball – these women are badass warriors and tough as hell! I once watched a World Series of softball game where a woman pitched a double-header with broken foot. I’d like to see a male athlete do that.
she needs to stop with steroids ASAP
Men’s soccer is more fun to watch than women’s soccer…? In what world? I’ll take actual goals over flops and stunts any day.
I’m not sure if “otherwise, snoozefest” means tennis in general, or women’s sports in general… so I guess I’ll hold my ire. But this cliche is the whole problem. Everyone doesn’t think this way, but executives do, so they assume everyone else does too and distribute their funds accordingly. Athletes are athletes, period. And when it comes to professional sports, I find that entitled, overpaid male stars are far less interesting than the women who focus on the sport and put their egos away until it’s time to celebrate. That’s a generalization, of course… but it’s also a direct result of pampering men’s teams and shafting the women.
I like that (a) she acknowledges she’s great in a matter-of-fact way, and (b) she’s obviously enjoyng herself. That is very special.
Yep, she and Venus both are amazing athletes.
Yes. I really enjoy her and her much deserved success. I want her to have more sponsors. She should be the highest paid athlete, the fact that she’s not makes me wonder about why that is.
She’s black and doesn’t fit the beauty ideal as well as tall, blonde, slender Sharapova.
It’s sad, but it’s true. When Sharapova won Wimbledon, multi-million dollar deals were literally thrown at her. Even Nike pays Sharapova more than Serena.
Yeah. The Nike deal would definitely piss me off if I were Serena but that’s ok. It’s a shame but that’s ok. The real deal is on the tennis courts. Every time Serena beats Maria on the courts she shows the world the hypocrisy behind it all. And for Maria, who is a fierce competitor in her own right, it has to hurt: 17-2! How do you even muscle up the psychological will to play. The last match was what, 1 hr 15 min? It’s so cat and mouse.
The next match should be more exciting to watch. Stay humble Serena. Stay focus. And bring home the trophy!!!!
Nike pays Sharapova more because she has her own line she designs and she gets a percentage of the sales instead of just a lump sum for wearing Nike clothing on court like other tennis stars.
Maria’s earned more than other more successful female tennis players, both black and white for years. Serena used to have plenty of endorsements back in the day but doesn’t have many anymore. I’m sure she could have no if she wanted to put in the extra time and effort it takes but she seems to prefer focusing on tennis instead. She makes more than twice as much money than anyone outside Maria, so it’s not as if success doesn’t matter.
I don’t like Sharapova’s personality or her game but I follow tennis enough that it annoys me when people she only makes money because she’s a white blonde. She hustles like crazy for endorsements and designs jewellery, shoes and handbags on the side and has her own candy business she established from the ground up. It’s not as if people just throw money at her without her having to do with anything. No one is stopping other tennis players to follow up on her footsteps and become a businesswoman, too of they want to.
I don’t know why being a smart business woman is seen as a negative mark against Sharapova. She started focusing on businesses outside tennis when she had her shoulder reconstructed and obviously didn’t know what would happen with her future. Good plan if you ask me.
“She’s black and doesn’t fit the beauty ideal as well as tall, blonde, slender Sharapova”…… Maddy, are you serious? That has to be one of the most racist statements I have ever read. It has NOTHING to do with skin/hair color and everything to do with her personality. She is known to be a pain in the butt to work with. An attitude of, “my way or the highway”. Many, flat out will not work with her because of that.
@Judd
That’s one of the most racist things you’ve read? You should really get out more.
Serena doesn’t get as many endorsements as someone like Sharipova because of their looks. Nike or any other company couldn’t care less about an athlete’s personality. Serena is a dark skinned, muscular black woman. She doesn’t fit into European beauty standards like other black woman (e.g. Rihanna, Halle Berry). Sharipova being white, skinny, blonde is the ideal. Please don’t dismiss these narrow minded, racist practices that exist in our society. That’s true racism, not when people criticize it. There was nothing racist about Maddy’s remark.
If endorsements were based on a sunny personality there would be no such thing as endorsements, nothing new there.
But you don’t think that there is a connection between the tennis world’s obsession with constantly criticizing Venus and Serena over superficial nonsense about their looks has anything to do with the paucity of endorsements? For the last fifteen years, the tennis world has been saying that they’re too muscular, lack artistry, must be on steroids, too athletic, too ‘ghetto’, have ugly hair, look like men and the like, so how is that not people denigrating or somehow punishing them based on looks? You can’t call people ugly and expect anyone to believe you when you say you didn’t say that said people are ugly. Maria IS praised for her beauty constantly and no one takes her personality to heart while doing so. Whatever one may think of Serena’s personality (which seems like it isn’t always the greatest, but see above), Serena is straight-up galaxies beyond Maria in talent level but still Maria is one of the most famous tennis athletes on the planet and while Serena is too, people harp on Serena’s outfits. It’s petty.
What about Kournikova? She had all of the talent of a giraffe on acid but was the highest-payed when Venus and Serena were beating her and that time everyone made it about how *hot* she was, too. What the poster said wasn’t based on some kind of malice, people inside and outside of tennis are always talking about the elitism, sexism and racism in the sport.
Lord, cure me of typos.
I just don’t get why the Williams sisters have less big sponsors or are paid less than someone like Sharapova. I may be a white girl, but Sharapova did not inspire me to get in shape, Venus Williams did. She’s my screensaver and on my fridge 🙂
If a brand featured Venus or Serena I would take notice of that brand.
It’s amazing how dominant she has been on the tour. And for so many years! All of the players from her era (Clijsters, Henin…)are well into their retirements.
I’m expecting Garbine to give Serena a good fight. She’s dangerous and already beat Serene at a slam.
P.s :I’m loving this little Wimbledon coverage you’ve been doing!
Agreed!
She has no reason to win another tournament ever again… and I am glad she is able to say that.
She has NOTHING LEFT TO PROVE.
Play tennis. Have fun. Enjoy your greatness Serena!
Serena has won THIRTY FIVE Grand Slam tournaments.
Venus has won 7.
Sharapova has won 5. FIVE! And makes MORE THAN DOUBLE what either the Williams sisters make on endorsements.
Damn. That’s amazing. I’m not a fan of some of the things Serena has said in the past, but she truly is a gifted athlete. I wish she would clean up her act as a person and be more conscious of what she says.
Good for her for speaking up about the sexism in tennis. It’s the ultimate bastion for sexism and racism and elitism in general.
All that being said Serena didn’t get burned by the press just because she was speaking up for women’s rights she got called out for some truly odious opinions about the Steubenville rape case. Hopefully she’s learned her lesson and educated herself about some things.
It’s not sexism to have 2 men’s matches and 1 women’s though, it’s CAPITALISM.
I’ve been watching tennis since I was a small child and right now the women’s tour is the weakest it has ever been and that’s reflected in the audience interest. It’s embarrassing to watch the “top” women play their slam matches in front of 30% full courts, only to have them fill up for the guys. And why isn’t she speaking up on the sexism of playing LESS tennis than the men for the same prize money?
Plus Serena deservedly gets called out on her bullshit. The “Crip walk” celebration glorifying gang culture, Steubenville, abusing match officials, turning a Rolling Stone interview into a high school burn book (in her thirties!), bitching about Sharapova’s love life whilst screwing a married man, a homophobic sketch she did for MadTV, etc… She’s really quite unpleasant.
Thank you. She is a talented athlete, but I don’t especially admire her as a person.
I’ve also been watching tennis since I was a small child and while one may argue right now the men’s side is more entertaining-it’s cyclical. That doesn’t really change the facts that for decades women in this sport have been underpaid and treated as less than the men even when they are an equal or bigger draw. If you actually want to educate yourself on the history behind the fight for equal pay in tennis (which took decades) check out the Billy Jean King doc on HBO. I agree Serena should be called out for her problematic statements but it doesn’t change the nature of tennis elitism.
Very well said.
……..“Crip walk” celebration glorifying gang culture ……I will never understand.
I saw her doing the dance steps and it looked joyful and happy to me.
The crip walk is so mainstream nowadays and has no gang ties to most people.
Steffi Graf is still my favorite, but Serena will surpass her record.
I keep hoping she won’t get the Golden Slam though. Steffi is my all time favorite woman player.
Graf was/is good but I think Seles was better.
It’s not only about records.
Graf was one of the classiest players to ever play too. And Serena is completely classless.
In that Venus way surpasses her sister.
I have to mute the tv when I watch women’s tennis, is it tennis or a reenactment of the scene in when harry met sally?
That is primarily Azarenka and Sharapova. I honestly root against them because I think their multi-syllabic, long-winded, oooh-oooh-oooooohs are not only annoying, but are also a contrived hinderance to their opponent. I really don’t mind, and can actually understand, a quick, one syllable exhalation (or ‘grunt’ if you will, lol.) But what VA and MS do is just ridiculous.
I heard sharp ova doesn’t make any noises during practice!
From my understanding, I think the reason Sharapova makes those noises is to confuse the opponent in regards to the power she puts into hitting the balls. If she screams, the opponent has a tougher time anticipating how will the ball go.
I used to rooting for Halep, who kept me interested in the WTA, but lately she has been acting very immature and that immaturity affects her game. She is just not there, starting a lot of matches with the defeater mentality. Not to mention that she changes coaches like socks, because they disagree with her style and opinions. She is in dire need of a psychologist. For a moment, it looked like she could have a great rivalry with Serena, because she always gave her best when she played against her, but for that, they need to meet on court.
I wish they would penalize them for the screaming. Sharapova in particular is annoying and it makes the match hard to watch. Serena has more force in her serves and she doesn’t yell like that. And if she did you can bet that they would have stopped her from the outset.
It also annoys me that they try to promote her as real competition to Serena when she is not. Serena is on a level with the greatest ever, like Steffi Graf and Martina. Sharapova is not as good by a mile. This is not a Roger Rafa situation.
It’s not just the women. Some of the men are pretty bad as well. The other day, I was watching a match with Nick Kyrgios, and his groaning was driving me crazy! Marcel Granollers is also pretty bad.
All the grunts and noises from tennis players made me quit watching. If I were to mute the TV to get away from hearing the irritating noises, I would miss out on the TV commentators. So I’ll just watch my sports sectment during the news to see who won.
The scheduling issue is difficult. Women’s tennis has been pretty lackluster for a long time. Serena vs. Venus is about as exciting as it gets, but even that’s fairly dull these days as Serena the obvious favourite now. It’s not about sexism, there’s been many times when men’s tennis has been dull as dishwater and women’s tennis has been where it’s at. If Rafa doesn’t bounce back we’re about to head into another period of men’s tennis being below average, probably a very long one as the young male players coming up right now aren’t blowing anyone away.
Generally tickets to men’s tennis sell a lot better right now, and attract more viewers on TV. Last year for example I couldn’t get tickets at a major tournament for a quarter-final between two moderately successful journeyman men’s players, but I easily got excellent tickets to the women’s semi’s and final on short notice. In most cases putting the women on the better, bigger courts would mean financial losses for the tournament and the broadcasters.
There are other issues too. Someone like Roger Federer can skip pretty much whatever tournament he likes at this stage of his career, but even now he brings a lot of cache, so tournament organizers have to keep him happy. There’s often a lot of excitement around the home-grown players, even if they aren’t playing well, so you’ll end up with someone like Roddick or Hewitt playing on the big courts in their country long after their heyday has passed. And then there’s just simple name recognition. If you’re the Wimbledon organizers you want Federer, Nadal, Murray and Djokovic on Centre Court for every one of their games if possible, regardless of who they’re playing, because they’re 4 of the most famous athletes in the world. On the women’s side only Serena and Maria have that kind of pull.
Again the draw power of women vs men side is cyclical the favoritism towards men is established and historical. Watch the HBO documentary on Billy Jean King.
Established and historical you say? http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/wimbledon-turns-centre-court-babe-central-giving-players-spotlight-based-not-talent-article-1.373146,
http://www.womenstennisblog.com/2009/06/30/prettier-faces-have-advantage-of-playing-on-wimbledon-centre-court/ Willing to admit such obvious garbage in 2009 ya’ll.
Serena and Venus are already pretty tight with Billie Jean King, (they’ve played in her WTT matches for years too). Fittingly Venus became the first woman to enjoy equal pay at Wimbledon which, along with the French, were the last tournaments (in 2007) dragging their feet over that issue.
@ Amber Thanks for the read but Yikes!!!!Sad that it’s so blatant.
Yeah, tennis right now is a yawner. Frankly, the commentators are more interesting than the players. Women’s tennis in the US is in pretty bad shape- even most of the top collegiate players are from overseas ( I do know that collegiate ranks seldom make the jump- the fact remains that there aren’t enough US born players to fill out collegiate rosters).
In all the very accurate talk re Serena’s record against Sharapova- the fact remains that she essentially had to rebuild her serve after shoulder surgery- that took years. The fact that she isn’t as good as Serena doesn’t diminish the determination and hard work it took to get her back to playing tennis at this level. She could have taken the Kournikova route, but didn’t. It wouldn’t kill me to see a #20 seed win- that’s exciting.
Madison Keys? Sloane Stevens? Coco Vandeweghe? They all had really good Wimbledons this year. I think MK is going to be the best of this current crop and can win some majors before too long.
Maria needs to work on her toss. Way too high at times and it gets away from her. Then it gets kind of yippy.
At this stage of the game, Maria ‘ s serve is what it is. Besides, half of it is mental with her, she dfs like crazy when the match gets tough, especially against good returners like Serena and Azarenka. For all the talk of her mental toughness she really melts down on serve.
The problem for Maria is everything she can do, Serena does better.
Power
Accuracy
Consistency
Return of serve
Mental toughness (especially on serve. Where Maria double faults Serena will blast an ace)
Add to that Serena has always been a much better mover and defender (Marias main weakness), has the greatest women’s serve of all time, and in the late stages of her career has learned to add in the slice and variety of spin to mix up pace and not just hit every ball hard and flat and give her opponent rythym and timing.
This is why unless Maria plays bananas and Serena plays like crap, she will never beat her.
Unfortunately for her, Serena makes it a POINT to beat the brakes off Maria. You don’t think Serena rememebers how the tennis world fell over itself trying to crown Maria the Great White Hope because of one match? Never.mind that she and her sister had been dominating and transforming the game for years
You don’t think she knows Maria earns more money off court even though she doesn’t have half the career accomplishments of Serena? That’s the reason Maria hasn’t beaten her since 2004. Aside from Maria having a one dimensional game, Serena simply REFUSES to lose against Maria.
Guess we’ll see- hope you’re right. Though where is Melanie Ouden(??sp?) now? She had that great run at the U.S. Open a few years ago, and then crickets. I am not a hard core tennis follower, so hope she hasn’t had some horrific injury/illness. I hope decent showings at GS tournaments give the players you mentioned encouragement- hope they all do well at the U.S. Open. Never thought I’d say this- but tennis needs another Martina Hingis! Her matches always brought the drama.
So Serena doing the C walk when she won the Olympics glorified gang culture???? …what about when Justin Timberlake did it at one of his concerts.???? Don’t believe me youtube it.
But eh, racists gonna race. I follow tennis hardcore, and on the tennis forum I follow, someone actually said she shoukd have been arrested after doing the C walk for being a “thug.crimjnal”
I really do wish people would just come out and say what they really mean
We all know what “thug” and “thuggish behavior” stand for. It’s not “polite” to say the n-word in public anymore. /sarcasm.
I’m reminded of the beginning of “Thuggish Ruggish Bone” by Bone Thugs N Harmony. “We’re not against “rap music”. But we are against those “thugs”.”
plus a goddamn million for the “thuggish ruggish bone” reference. A+.
Not much more to add about Serena that hasn’t been said. Admire her as an athlete but dislike her as a person. I can’t ever get past her Steubenville comments and I was at the match where she physically threatened the lineswoman. It was brutal.
However, just want to say how much I am loving the Wimbledon coverage here!
THIS!!! She’s a great athlete, but when she talks, it’s just brutal. I think both her and her sister are so arrogant, I just can’t with them. If she’s so awesome she doesn’t need to win another title, why doesn’t she take the time to mentor some fledgling athletes? I don’t like her as a person at all.
Meh…Serena lost her cool for sure at the USO.
Meanwhile McEnroe once confronted and by that i mean walked right up to and got in a woman’s face and berated her in the stands at the USO during a match because she used flash photography.
Connors confronted a linesman once and called him an abortion. They are both beloved tennis heroes today.
I’m sorry but calling somebody an abortion is funny.
It’s the thuggish ruggish boooooooooone!!!!
Lmao, my city just got a throwback classical hip hop station so I hear that song all the time now, complete with intro
BTH is such an underrated group.
Melanie Oudin is playing mixed doubles because she is garbage. She had a lucky run at a time where 1) alot top women were in bad form or injured (when she beat Maria, she was recovering from shoulder surgery) .
2)the ladies side was weak that year . Think about it, Clijsters had barely come out of retirement and she won a major!
Anyway, the field quickly figured out her one dimensional game ( she is a welfare recipient version of Radwaska, but with even less power and not nearly the variety) and now the only way she can compete in the main ATP/WTA field is mixed doubles
Madison Keys is the real deal though. Sloane Stephens needs to work on her mental fragility and tactics. Taylor Townsend needs to get fitter. All 3 have major potential.
Coco is like Davenport before she got in shape but with less power and consistency. I don’t see her having the talent to be really good.
I think American ladies tennis is fine, it’s the men side that is in a state of emergency.
We have no real contenders on the US side. No up and comers to look forward to. I really wish the USTA would get rid of the McEnroe brothers and hire someone from Europe where they know how to develop players.
Sorry to spam, but it’s nice to be able to talk about tennis outside of a tennis forum, lol!
How about Sock on the US side? I know Isner has been around for a while but just can’t go the distance at the majors. I still watch him (and root for him) every chance I get although I have learned not to expect too much.
The McEnroes finally lost their Legends Trophy at the French Open this year. John was so ticked off at the final … he still takes all that stuff seriously. Laugh at his anger management issues, sure, but he needs to just enjoy himself like the other veterans participating.
Years ago I went to a McDonald’s charity event at the Washington Post building where the guests of honor were Venus and Serena. They were horrible and so disrespectful. They showed up with a huge entourage who were drinking cans of soda and they kept harassing the bartenders to pour liquor into the soda cans. We couldn’t stop laughing/gawking at their behavior. They showed up really late too.
Re their sponsorship deals.
I live in South London In a predominantly black area. Yesterday while serena demolished sharapova I walked past a giant poster of sharapova. So weird. Serena is so inspirational as a champion and as black woman who broke barriers and you would think big corporations would at least market her to black kids in these kind of areas.
Didn’t the Tennis Gods used to fine players for all that hooting and wailing? I actively root against Sharapova just for that – no matter how she plays, it’s unbearable. And it’s so demonstrably fake – notice how when she serves into the net it just chokes off immediately. “OOOOOooooooooahpp!” *crickets* Fine her, she’ll break that in a hurry. Azarenka, too. Ruins their matches, distracts from their own abilities, and fake, fake, FAKE.
Jack Sock has career journeyman written all over him. No special talent there
She did it!!!!!!!💃💃💃💐💐
SHE is what has hurt women’s tennis. Ever since she threatened to kill a lines person to their face she’s been dead to me. I have no interest and I’ve moved on to watching other sports. No matter how much she achieves, the discrimantory things she has said will always keep her from being a truly great champion.
BTW – Venus would never have behaved this way.
BS she wants it and will always want it – she’s the ultimate competitor. She goes on playing and winning because she can and props to her. Am a fan of both sisters as they not only have a great talent but a raw determination and drive to succeed regardless of circumstances and wether people try to pull them down. Both have a strong mental will and for me that is something that should be celebrated and held aloft for other women to aspire to – for too long have woman been told to be a weak little wife (Katy Cambridge i’m looking at you). The Williams sisters changed the women’s game for the better – OK they may have dominated for years but there are a lot of younger girls coming up who are showing that same drive and style of tennis that they started. They brought elements of the mens game to the girls.
Am not a fan of Sharapova (great tennis player) but she is a bland personality – Serena has a personality as big as her serve. And i agree with others here who have said that Serena needs to grow up a little bit and keep some opinions to herself.
Who was the other blonde, eastern European tennis player who had great potential but jacked it all in to go modelling and acting then hooked up with Enrique Iglesias never to be heard from again? Name escapes me at the moment.
And congrats on ur 6th Wimbledon title – well done! It was a good match.
Anna Kournikova
Some people have said they are tired of her winning. Well, the other women need to step up their game. It’s like comparing Jordan or LeBron to other players. You really can’t in some instances. Today’s match was good because it pitted a reigning champion against an up and coming champion. We got to see the best & worst of each.
IMO, people like Anna Kournikova & Sharapova (to a certain extent) got in the game to become rich. Sharapova’s game although good is one-dimensional. I don’t even think her heart is in the game anymore. Regardless, Serena is a better athlete & a better tennis player.
No excuses. But is a highly competitive arena & in tense moments, things & people get ugly. It’s unfortunate that in a 20-year career that for some those ugly moments standout & tarnishes her achievements.
Yes to all of this.