Scott Stinson: Loss in Toronto brings Serena Williams one step closer to the end of an unparalleled career

The most notable match I've seen live of Serena Williams was It was a match that was right outside the stadium.

It was Wimbledon seven years before him, and the 33-year-old Williams had already won his first two legs of a Grand Slam. She beat her two opponents in her first All England her loan her tennis at her club but she turned on the heater in the third round She is 22 year old British Heather She played against Watson.

Watson dropped the first set and looked likely to drop the second, but she won her third straight match. She also won the first three games of her third set. I left her court at the center and went out to Henman's Hill. It's a grassy slope here and the British crowd was watching on the big screen and it was kind of crazy. It swelled and roared as Watson battled the living legend.

However, Williams fought back. It wasn't his skill or athleticism that stood out, but how he threw himself into every shot. It was as if he was swinging a utility pole around and ramming it with all his might.

Watson was unable to contain the onslaught and Williams also won that tournament. It was her 21st Grand Slam singles her title. Margaret Her journey to age 24, an all-time record alongside her coat, was almost inevitable.

Seven years later, that is highly unlikely. Williams announced on Tuesday that she is retiring from tennis, and suddenly her second-round match at the National Her Banks Open in Toronto Wednesday night will be a marquee tennis her event. became. There may be only a few precious pieces left.

Belinda Bencic played an enviable role as a spoiler, ruining the night's revelry with a perfunctory 6-2, 6-4 victory. Williams had just played her third game of 2022 and she was clearly rusty and underwhelmed by quality opponents.

"There were a lot of emotions going through my head," Williams said after the game. I wish I could have played better, but Belinda played great today."

1. Scott Stinson

2. Serena Williams' Tennis Career

Williams held back tears as the crowd at Soby's Stadium cheered her on.

"I love you all," she said. "I'm not good at saying goodbye, but goodbye, Toronto." Not just every slam, 73 WTA wins, and 4 Olympic gold medals. That said, with a ridiculously long career, with hiatuses in the middle, she could have, quite reasonably, been distracted by other pursuits, battling injuries, and getting a little bored with tennis.

She dominated her early twenties, winning seven Grand Slams before turning 24. She's been relatively sober since then, but in her 30s she's picked up her momentum again, plus she's won 10 more. The part is just nuts. The best players in the women's game have historically won multiple titles in less than a decade. Steffi Her Graff has her 20 wins out of her 22 wins in 9 her seasons. Martina Navratilova won 15 of 18 times in seven years. Martin Hingis is a year older than Williams and she won her last five Grand Slams in 1999, when Serena won her first. After her one win at the Slam, Justin Henin won her seven. Since Henin last won, Williams has won 17 more times.

Everything she has accomplished must be viewed through the prism of her backstory. Born into a working-class family in Compton, California, Serena and her older sister Venus were essentially tennis champions by her father Richard, who saw the sport as a path to stardom and wealth. I was raised like that. For whoever considers this a parenting strategy — the recent movie King Richard touted a father, but whether his daughters were great in spite of him is an open question. Still — there's no denying that Williams changed the sport forever, then and now. Mainly for wealthy white people. Coco, his 18-year-old American, her 10th seed in Toronto, said Gauff grew up inspired by Williams as his role model for strong blacks. "I mean, that's why I play tennis," Gauff said.

The attention they received from an early age was not always good. The sisters refused to compete in the Indian Wells Tournament over the years due to racist abuse in their families early in their careers, and as the sisters rose to prominence, Williams was loved. No. She has had several violent meltdowns, especially in the 2018 U.S. Open finals, and has been overwhelmed over the years by everything from her on-court demeanor to her external attention to her fashion choices. has been criticized for a long time. She sparred with the press in her early seasons, but seems to have decided to go beyond that later in her career.

At that Wimbledon in 2015, the British press was doing the same as the British press. They asked Serena about fairness in clothing and wages and a heat warning.While Williams was baffled by all of it, it made sense to him, who has dealt with misogyny and racism since a young age on tour. She said she was not going to be preyed upon "in any of that drama."

It was a reminder of how she played back then. After she appeared to tease her opponent, she thrashed the dismissive Ace on the court.

In addition, she added two Grand Slams after she won Wimbledon. Another one was with her All England club and another was with her early pregnancy in Melbourne in 2017. Complications followed the birth of her daughter, Olympia, and multiple surgeries, after which she returned to the finals of her four Grand Slam tournaments, losing them all, and most recently, she Bianca in 2019 she lost to Andreescu. She will have another try in New York in about three weeks.

Slam's pursuit of number 24 was a bit unnecessary after all. perhaps. As an amateur on the court she won 12, but her tournaments in tennis were more shared with her party in the garden than with major sporting events.

But what if it ends up being a little short? It's amazing how Serena Williams has kept trying, considering everything she's done so far. It's worth noting that she kept fighting, which shouldn't come as a surprise.

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