Anyone watching Serena trail 2-6, 3-3 against Li Na in the WTA YEC final and concluding it was curtains for the American’s title defence would have been taught a lesson in perserverance, will and survival by the 31 year old.
It would have been one of many similar lessons Serena has taught tennis viewers over the years. Serena’s comeback, a run of 9 games, to win her the title was yet another example of her capability to turn things around when the odds were against her. For anyone who had forgotten her 2002-03 seasons, her runs to the 2005 and 2007 Australian Open titles, her 2008 US Open title and her 2012 Wimbledon victory, then her 2013 YEC crown was a reminder.
Serena has to keep reminding us, you see. Time and time again she has been written off as a player who could have been the best. But her 2013 season changed that.
After a stellar 2012 season, and a great start to ’13 which saw her take the Brisbane title, her quarter final loss to Sloane Stephens in the Australian Open and then her loss in the Doha final to Azarenka had people muttering it was same old, same old. A great season not built upon. For Serena’s career has been characterised by stops and starts. After her breakout win in 1999 in NYC, Serena suffered a 2 season sophomore slump. After a Miami 2002-Wimbledon 2003 run which saw the Serena slam and had people shouting Greatest ever, injury and family tragedy saw her go slamless until Melbourne ’05. More injuries followed, her ranking fell out of the top 100 and it was two years before another slam, perhaps the greatest comeback slam of all time in Melbourne ’07. More injuries kept her out the winner’s circle until the US Open 2008. Finally she had some momentum, collecting Majors all the way to Wimbledon ’10. But after a foot injury which culminated in Serena nearly dying of a pulmonary embolism, Serena was out until Eastbourne ’11 and did not win another Major until Wimbledon ’12.
So, fans and critics may have been forgiven for thinking Serena was due another slump in her career after her Melbourne defeat and the injury she suffered in that match. And with age also creeping up on her and her least successful Major coming up, the odds seemed once again heavily stacked against her. Serena though, as usual, had other ideas. Coming from a set down to beat Sharapova in the Miami final for her second title of the season, Serena then honed her game to thrive on clay, piing up the titles in Charleston, Rome and Madrid on her way to her second Roland Garros title. It was a run which took it out of her though, a fourth round defeat to Lisicki, losing when 3-0 up in the third, proof that age and a game overhaul that focused on point construction over first strike tennis, had taken their toll.
Serena once again picked herself up, taking her first International title in Bastaad. She then won the Montreal title and then shrugged off her second hard court final loss to Azarenka to beat the Belorussian in a hard fought three set US Open final. It was her 17th Major of her career. One behind Navratilova and Evert.
The titles did not stop there. Winning in Beijing and Istanbul meant that with 11 titles, including 2 slams, 1 YEC, and 3 Premier Mandatories, Serena ended the season as the overwhelming number 1 and with a win-loss ratio of 78-4, a 95.1% winning percentage, the highest since 1990. Taking into account 2 other finals, a 28-0 record on clay and a career high winning streak of 34 matches, and you have what could be Serena’s best season ever. While she may have won an extra slam in ’02, she ‘only’ had a 56-5 record and won ‘only’ 8 titles.
With 1 Major title left to place her equal with the 18 Major tally of Navratilova and Evert, Serena’s 2014 season, could put her in the debate. Hold on. Did I not learn my lesson again? Erase that could. It should read will.
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