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      How Do Doubles Teams Partner Up?

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      For some players, finding a doubles partner is easy — just ask a friend. (Or in the case of Serena and Venus Williams, a sibling.)That’s been the case for the Aussies, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, known as the Special Ks. The duo are close friends who have been playing doubles together since they were boys.Together they won the doubles boys final at Wimbledon in 2013, and since then, they’ve won a number of doubles titles together, including at this year’s Australian Open and the Atlanta Open.Other players, however, have to go out on limb to find a partner. In some cases, that might mean taking publicly to social media or sliding into the DMs.Before Wimbledon this year, Coco Gauff, 18-year-old American, took to Twitter to search for a partner for the mixed doubles draw.Serena Williams at the U.S. OpenThe U.S. Open could be the tennis star’s last professional tournament after a long career of breaking boundaries and obliterating expectations.A Magical Run: As her successes on the field prove, Serena Williams did not come to New York to receive a ceremonial send-off, but to put her best on the line against the world’s finest players.In the Player’s Box: Fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium have been catching glimpses of her family and entourage. Here is a look at who has been in attendance to support her.Her Fans: We asked readers to share their memories of watching Williams play and the emotions that she stirred. There was no shortage of submissions.Sisterhood on the Field: Since Williams and her sister Venus burst onto the tennis scene in the 1990s, their legacies have been tied to one another.“Who wants to play mixed at wimby,” Gauff said in tweet.Jack Sock, the 29-year-old American, responded to Gauff’s post, and said, “We’d be a decent team.”The two advanced to the semifinals before losing in three sets.Others have had even more luck on social media. Before the French Open this year, Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands sent a direct message to Ena Shibahara of Japan to ask if she’d be interested in playing mixed doubles. The two had never met before, but they went on to win the title.Bethanie Mattek-Sands, an American professional tennis player who was formerly No. 1 in doubles, said she has played with a lot of friends throughout her career. “I feel like that makes doubles that much more fun, you’re out there with a buddy and then you just figure out what your strengths are as a team and go from there,” she said.But overall, finding a doubles partner “can be pretty random,” Mattek-Sands said. “You can talk to a friend, send a text and just be like, ‘Hey, do you have a partner for this tournament, that tournament?”How long a team stays together really varies, Mattek-Sands said: Some players prefer to play with the same person all year because they can compete as a team in the year-end championships. Others like to play for clay-court season or the hardcourt season. Sometimes a match up is just a one off.Some players just look at the rankings of other players, but “most of the time it’s friends texting friends or coaches texting other coaches to see if their player already has a partner,” Mattek-Sands said.Before this year, it’s been a while since either of the Williams sisters have played doubles. Venus Williams lasted played at the French Open last year with Gauff. And before this year, Serena Williams last played doubles a tournament in New Zealand in 2020 with Caroline Wozniacki.To play in this year’s women’s doubles draw, the Williams sisters were awarded a wild card from the U.S. Open.The Williams sisters won the U.S. Open doubles tournament together in 1999 and 2009. The sisters have won 14 Grand Slam titles together, most recently at Wimbledon in 2016. They last played doubles at the U.S. Open in 2014, and at any Grand Slam tournament in 2018.“I think you’ll know if Venus and Serena are playing well by how they are serving and then putting the pressure on that second ball,” said Mattek-Sands, who has competed in doubles against the Williams sisters. “We know that they can both hit big serves, but how is their partner at the net handling that? I think if they can put a lot of pressure on the returners, they’re going to be doing really well.” More

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      From Start to Finish, Venus and Serena Williams Always Had Each Other

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      Since the Williams sisters first burst into tennis in the 1990s, their legacy has been tied to one another. They will play doubles in perhaps the final tournament of their careers.The Williams sisters. They are the yin to the other’s yang. Starkly different in disposition but tied together by history and sisterly bond.Serena Williams, of course, has been the unquestionable North Star of this U.S. Open. After announcing plans to “evolve” away from tennis once she strikes her last ball here, she is the darling of the tournament and indeed the sports world — lauded and feted and dripping in diamonds and light for her swan song.Venus Williams, at 42 the trailblazer and older of the two, has willingly settled into the backdrop, as has become customary since Serena grabbed the mantle of most famous and accomplished sister.But with Venus’s years piling up and her ranking stuck in the 1500s, this may well be her finale, too.Venus took to the court for her first-round match this week with the statuesque, Zen-like calmness that has been her trademark for years. Through an error-prone loss played in front of a muted, half-full Arthur Ashe Stadium, Venus’s bearing never broke.At virtually every moment of her defeat, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), to Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, she was the picture of chin-up, shoulders-back regality.We tend to take the greats for granted, especially when greatness comes in two. It’s easy to forget that among the sisters, Venus burst onto the world stage first. As an unseeded 17-year-old, she marched to the finals here in 1997.“It’s been such an amazingly long career that people lose track of what she was back then and at her peak,” said Lindsay Davenport, who lost to Venus in the championship match of the 2000 U.S. Open (Venus won again in 2001). “She was so powerful, serving at 120 miles per hour, all over you with every shot, running down everything.”Those days are gone. What has never diminished is the unyielding interdependence Venus and Serena share.Lindsay Davenport recalled facing Venus Williams in 2000. “She was so powerful, serving at 120 miles per hour, all over you with every shot, running down everything.”Vincent Laforet/The New York TimesEarly in the week, Serena, 40, described Venus as “my rock” and spoke of how important it was to have Venus be part of this week’s celebration. For the first time since 2018, and most likely the last time ever, the two will play in a Grand Slam doubles tournament.With a mischievousness glimmer, Venus told reporters she had no choice in the matter. It was Serena’s idea. “She’s the boss so I do whatever she tells me to do,” she said.Since the mid-1990s, they have been playing professional tennis on an unrelenting tour that offers little time for rest and plenty of time to feel isolated and alone.Serena Williams’s Farewell to TennisThe U.S. Open could be the tennis star’s last professional tournament after a long career of breaking boundaries and obliterating expectations.Decades of Greatness: Over 27 years, Serena Williams dominated generation after generation of opponents and changed the way women’s tennis is played, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles and cementing her reputation as the queen of comebacks.Is She the GOAT?: Proclaiming Williams the greatest women’s tennis player of all time is not a straightforward debate, our columnist writes.An Enduring Influence: From former and current players’ memories of a young Williams to the new fans she drew to tennis, Williams has left a lasting impression.Her Fashion: Since she turned professional in 1995, Williams has used her clothes as a statement of self and a weapon of change.It’s a grind for top competitors like the Williams sisters, who for years made it their business to reach the last stages of almost every event they played. Add race to the mix — the fact that, as Black women, Venus and Serena were always symbols of something much more than just themselves — and the pressure deepens.That they had one another all this time was more than a blessing, it may have helped keep both of their careers going well past the typical due dates.They had one another, and we watched them both.The sisters faced off 16 times in major tournaments, almost always in late rounds. Venus won five of those matches. How many Grand Slams would Serena have won if Venus were not there to fend her off? And what about the other way around?There were Venus’s walloping wins the first three times they played on tour. And the nervous way they played as the rivalry approached full stride.Serena’s balky performances led to awkward post-match hugs. “No, no, you, little sis, take the next one,” Venus seemed to reply. “I just can’t play the way I want against you.”They had a habit of playing so poorly against one another that some in tennis fandom became convinced that their father, Richard, had fixed their matches. When Venus pulled out with an injury just before their semifinal match at Indian Wells in 2001, the conspiracy theory reached a peak.Venus sat in the stands as Serena battled Kim Clijsters in the final of that tournament, the predominantly white crowd angrily booing both of the sisters and, according to Richard Williams, shouting a racial slur. They were 20 and 19 at the time.From 2002 to 2003, Serena began taking over as the sister destined for ultimate greatness. In that period, they faced off in the finals of four consecutive Grand Slams. Serena won them all.Did this cause sibling jealousy? Not for these two.Having just lost to her sister at the 2002 French Open, Venus was so proud and delighted for Serena that she stepped off the podium, retrieved a camera and joined the press photographers taking photos of the newly crowned champion.Having just lost to Serena Williams at the 2002 French Open, Venus joined the group of photographers to get a shot of the newly crowned champion.Photo by Phil Cole/Getty ImagesTheir on-court rivalry became one-sided over the last dozen years, decidedly swinging in Serena’s favor, but on and on they went, always together, always close, Venus ever the careful big sister with the broad shoulders to lean on.Would either have reached the highest of heights if the other’s example had not provided a constant push to improve? Remember, Venus won seven Grand Slam singles titles and a stunning 14 playing doubles alongside Serena.Then consider all that the sisters have gone through together. The murder of their half sister Yetunde Price in 2003. Venus’s 2011 diagnosis with Sjogren’s syndrome, a fatigue-causing autoimmune disorder. Serena’s pulmonary embolism that year and, later, near-fatal post-pregnancy complications.Would they still be playing if they were solo acts and not siblings?One of the most beautiful things about their careers is the way we’ve witnessed both of them mature and learn from both success and embarrassing failure.Venus spoke to this after her first-round loss when asked about her role in helping Serena conclude that the time was right to leave tennis.“We’re a huge influence on each other,” she said, “and I’m a huge influence on her.”As she continued, Venus noted how she had tried to step away and let her sister’s retirement emerge naturally with Serena, her husband, Alexis Ohanian, and their young daughter, Olympia, taking the lead.“This decision needs to be all hers and her family’s,” Venus said. “The newest part of the family.”Since the 1990s, when they first emerged on the scene, the sisters have been synonymous — tied together in the public mind and their daily reality, a firm knot that never loosened.Time alters everything, though. New family members are central to the equation.Long after this tournament is over, Serena’s story will continue to be there for all to see. Her journey as a venture capitalist or a media mogul is one we will know about. If she has another child, we’ll know that, too: They’ll probably land on the cover of Vogue.Serena will remain in the spotlight. And whenever she needs her sisterly rock, Venus will be there, self-contained and confident, all majestic presence and blistering serve, loyal as can be. More

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      For Venus and Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, Day and Night Experiences

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      Unlike her sister, Venus was not prepared to deal with questions about her tennis future after a loss in the first round of the singles tournament. “I’m just focused on the doubles,” she said.Follow live as Serena Williams plays Anett Kontaveit at the U.S. Open.If Monday night at the U.S. Open with Serena Williams was electric, Tuesday afternoon with her sister Venus was natural lighting: sunlit yet subdued.“That’s a good analogy,” said Kim Benjamin, a longtime fan of the Williams sisters from Baton Rouge, La., who was in Arthur Ashe Stadium for both sessions.Serena Williams’s victory, 6-3, 6-3, over Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in the first round Monday night would have been a tough act to follow for anyone, not just a sibling.This is Serena’s self-declared last U.S. Open and likely her final tournament, and she extended her stay in the singles draw by shaking off the rust and clicking into some familiar gears against Kovinic with the sellout crowd roaring on its feet as she arrived, as she prevailed and as she departed after an on-court tribute that featured Billie Jean King and a video tribute narrated by Oprah Winfrey.“You could just feel the energy, and you just knew that Serena was going to come out and want to give it her all, because the crowd was amazing, from the minute she stepped out,” said Benjamin, who purchased a ticket at the last minute. “It was goose bumps.”But Tuesday afternoon had a very different vibe. The biggest stadium in tennis was half empty and the reception comparatively muted, even if there were plenty of shouts of “We love you, Venus” and “Let’s go, V.”It is partly a matter of perception. The sisters will be forever linked in the public’s eye as players and doubles partners: sharing the same moonshot journey from cracked public courts in Compton, Calif., to Grand Slam titles and No. 1 in the world.But though Venus, 42, is long past the typical tennis retirement date and has not won a singles match since she returned to the tour this season, she appears to be on a different career timeline than her sister, or at least has a radically different way of making an exit.Tuesday’s loss, 6-1, 7-6 (5) to Alison Van Uytvanck, an unseeded Belgian veteran, could well turn out to be the last U.S. Open singles match of Venus’s career but there has been no clarity on her plans, which only widened the disparity between the sisters’ night-and-day experiences this week.They will soon be reunited on court, playing doubles in a first-round match that almost certainly will be scheduled for Thursday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium. But Venus was not prepared on Tuesday to dissolve the mist surrounding her own tennis future at one of her increasingly rare news conferences.Serena Williams’s Farewell to TennisThe U.S. Open could be the tennis star’s last professional tournament after a long career of breaking boundaries and obliterating expectations.Decades of Greatness: Over 27 years, Serena Williams dominated generation after generation of opponents and changed the way women’s tennis is played, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles and cementing her reputation as the queen of comebacks.Is She the GOAT?: Proclaiming Williams the greatest women’s tennis player of all time is not a straightforward debate, our columnist writes.An Enduring Influence: From former and current players’ memories of a young Williams to the new fans she drew to tennis, Williams has left a lasting impression.Her Fashion: Since she turned professional in 1995, Williams has used her clothes as a statement of self and a weapon of change.Question: “We know about Serena and her plans post-Open. After you have done the doubles, do you plan to evolve away from tennis and do your own thing or is tennis still in the forefront of your mind?”Venus’s response: “Right now I’m just focused on the doubles.”“In the end, it’s just rust,” Venus Williams said. “There is nothing you can do about that except for, you know, not be rusty at some point.” Karsten Moran for The New York TimesRetirement is a rightfully sensitive subject for any star athlete, but Venus has had to deal with the speculation and thinly veiled questions much longer than most. With her results slumping, she had to begin fending off retirement queries beginning in her late 20s, quashing them for a time when she experienced her renaissance season in 2017: reaching the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, making the semifinals of the U.S. Open and soaring inspirationally back into the top five of the rankings at age 37.She has had, by nearly any measure, a phenomenal career: reaching No. 1 in both singles and doubles, winning seven Grand Slam singles titles (five at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open), four Olympic gold medals and winning 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister (they are 14-0 in finals).But that stirring 2017 revival looks very much like her last hurrah. She has not reached another final at any level since then and has lost nine times in the first round of Grand Slam tournaments in the last five seasons, never advancing past the third round in any major during that span.“When it’s my last, I’ll let you know,” she said when retirement talk resurfaced after she lost early at Wimbledon again in 2021.At this stage, having missed nearly a year of action because of injury before returning in July, she has a world ranking of 1,504.“It was definitely the longest time I have been away from tennis and been without a racket in my hand,” she said. “So it was a completely new experience for me, getting a racket back in my hand and trying to acclimate as quick as possible to be ready for the U.S. Open, which was not easy.”Because of her ranking, she can only make it into tour-level events through wild cards, like the one awarded to her at this U.S. Open. At some stage, if Venus improbably extends her career well beyond this tournament and season, the largess will and should end. Young players on the rise deserve those opportunities, too, but Venus, even with a quadruple-digit ranking, remains an undeniable drawing card and a touchstone whose many fans, particularly those with siblings, can connect with her story.“She is in her sister’s shadow in my opinion,” Benjamin said. “I think she doesn’t have obviously the family dynamics that Serena does now with a husband and a child. So, I think that she’s here for the long haul, just because she loves the game so much. I think she’s playing because win, lose, or draw, she’s just happy to be playing the game she loves.”That is a devoted fan’s view but not the message Venus sent after her latest defeat. She was asked what was driving her out there on the court at this point of her career.“Three letters,” she answered without hesitation. “W-I-N. That’s it. Very simple.”If so, this must be a downbeat time, but then perhaps it’s wise to not assume too much.She has had plenty of opportunities to gracefully step away and bask in the accolades but has continued to head to the practice court with Eric Hechtman, the coach she now shares with Serena, and has continued to step back into the arena, even if her first step is not nearly as quick.She is hardly embarrassing herself and pushed Van Uytvanck, who is ranked 43rd, into a tiebreaker by lifting her level in the second set with the less-than-capacity crowd providing plenty of positive feedback. But in the end, she could not manufacture quite enough form or consistency.“In the end, it’s just rust,” Venus said. “There is nothing you can do about that except for, you know, not be rusty at some point.”She is now 0-4 in singles in 2022 but is not done just yet with Arthur Ashe Stadium. Bring on the electricity on Thursday.Benjamin, on her way back to Baton Rouge, won’t be able to make that session, but she had some parting words as she headed for the front gate in the natural light.“Be gentle with Venus,” she said. “Please.” More

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      On the First Day of US Open, All Eyes Are on Serena Williams

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      There are 63 other matches on opening day, but they have been relegated to the background as Williams prepares to play what could be her final singles match.Iga Swiatek is seeded No. 1 for the first time this year at the U.S. Open and is trying to secure her first Grand Slam title somewhere other than the red clay of Roland Garros.But on the eve of the U.S. Open, Swiatek had another priority: finally working up the courage to meet Serena Williams, a formidable champion whom Swiatek said made her feel like “a kid from kindergarten just looking at her.”On Sunday, Swiatek posted a photograph of her with Williams on her social media accounts: “This is the highlight of my day,” Swiatek wrote on Twitter. “Congratulations on your amazing journey and legendary career @serenawilliams. Huge respect for everything you have done for our sport.”It has been that sort of buildup to this year’s final Grand Slam tournament. There are an abundance of established and emerging players and story lines at the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. But they are all relegated to the background for now as Williams, one of the greatest athletes of any generation, prepares to play what could be her final singles match on Monday night in the first round against the unseeded Danka Kovinic.Until this year, no Chinese man had qualified to play in the U.S. Open but two managed it this year — 25-year-old Zhang Zhizhen and 22-year-old Wu Yibing — and they are on Monday’s schedule after practicing together on Court 8 on Sunday with a small crowd of predominantly Mandarin-speaking fans applauding their efforts and besieging them for autographs and photographs when the training session ended.On Monday, Americans Elizabeth Mandlik and Brandon Holt, both children of U.S. Open singles champions, will make their own Grand Slam debuts. Mandlik, the daughter of Hana Mandlikova, will face Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia. Holt, the son of Tracy Austin, will face Taylor Fritz, the No. 10 seed and top-ranked American who is himself the son of former top 10 women’s player Kathy May.Also on Monday, Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open men’s champion, will return to the tournament after missing last year’s Open with a serious wrist injury. He has a tough assignment against Pablo Carreño Busta, the smooth-moving Spaniard who has twice been a semifinalist at the U.S. Open and recently won the Masters 1000 tournament in Canada. But all those intriguing tennis stories will take a back seat to Williams vs. Kovinic, and even the other tennis players have been looking for opportunities to meet and catch up with Williams.“I watch her my whole life,” Swiatek, the 21-year-old Polish star, said of the 40-year-old Williams. “Basically she was everywhere, because she always won and was somewhere in the semifinals or the finals. I didn’t always feel like I’m this kind of player who can play similar tennis, because she always seemed so strong, really stronger than any of her opponents physically. But mentally for sure, she’s the one who’s going to show you how to use your position and how to kind of intimidate with being No. 1. I’m trying to do that. I don’t know if it’s going well or not.”Serena Williams’s Farewell to TennisThe U.S. Open could be the tennis star’s last professional tournament after a long career of breaking boundaries and obliterating expectations.Decades of Greatness: Over 27 years, Serena Williams dominated generation after generation of opponents and changed the way women’s tennis is played, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles and cementing her reputation as the queen of comebacks.Is She the GOAT?: Proclaiming Williams the greatest women’s tennis player of all time is not a straightforward debate, our columnist writes.An Enduring Influence: From former and current players’ memories of a young Williams to the new fans she drew to tennis, Williams left a lasting impression.Her Fashion: Since she turned professional in 1995, Williams has used her clothes as a statement of self and a weapon of change.For Swiatek, Williams’s ability to juggle outside interests and motherhood with her tennis career have been a “great example.”“I think it’s great that we have somebody like that in our sport who cleared the path and showed us that you can do anything,” she said. “The sky’s the limit.”Naomi Osaka, a former No. 1 and two-time U.S. Open champion trying to recover her mojo after an unsuccessful stretch, spent more of her news conference on Friday answering questions about Williams than any other topic.“I think that her legacy is really wide to the point where you can’t even describe it in words,” Osaka said. “She changed the sport so much. She’s introduced people that have never heard of tennis into the sport. I think I’m a product of what she’s done. I wouldn’t be here without Serena, Venus, her whole family. I’m very thankful to her.”Grigor Dimitrov, the 17th seed in the men’s draw, catching up with Serena Williams during a practice session on Sunday.Julian Finney/Getty ImagesOsaka’s family did use the extraordinary success of the Williamses as a “blueprint,” according to Osaka’s father Leonard Francois.Naomi Osaka made her Grand Slam breakthrough by upsetting Serena Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final in a match where Williams was penalized a game after a series of code violations by chair umpire Carlos Ramos. Osaka ended up in tears at the on-court awards ceremony amid boos from the stands, which were not directed at her but at the way the final had unfolded.She and Williams have long since moved on from that traumatic evening and developed a strong intergenerational connection.When Williams played (and lost) in the first round of the Western and Southern Open earlier this month to Emma Raducanu, Osaka was in the stands, eager not to miss the opportunity after Williams had announced that the end of her playing career was imminent.“I remember seeing an interview she did, I don’t know what it was, like an on-court thing, that if she retires, she’ll never tell anyone,” Osaka said. “I was really scared: Dang, when is the last time she’s going to play? Just to see her announce it and let people appreciate her legacy is really cool.”Monday night will not be the last chance to do so: Win or lose against Kovinic, Serena is entered in the women’s doubles with her older sister Venus Williams.But Monday night should be quite a moment, a sporting and cultural happening that comes on the 25th anniversary of Arthur Ashe Stadium, still the biggest permanent tennis venue in the world with its capacity of 23,771.While Venus, unseeded, reached the women’s singles final the year Ashe Stadium opened in 1997, Serena did not get to play a match in the main stadium. But she did make her Grand Slam and U.S. Open debut, losing in the first round of doubles with her sister to Kathy Rinaldi and Jill Hetherington.A quarter century later, Venus, 42, and Serena are the only women in this year’s draw who also played in the 1997 Open.It is a moment to celebrate, an era to commemorate, and though there is no shortage of matches on Monday worth watching closely, there can be no doubt about which match is generating the biggest buzz. More

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      In Comebacks, Serena Williams Showed ‘You Can Never Underestimate Her’

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      Big moments on the biggest stages cemented Williams’s reputation as the queen of comebacks.During the 2012 U.S. Open final, Serena Williams was so close to losing that the idea of a comeback seemed out of the question.Her opponent, Victoria Azarenka, had gone up 5-3 in the final set, giving her numerous ways to put Williams away.“I was preparing my runners-up speech,” Williams said.Instead, she delivered what became a signature comeback of her career, breaking Azarenka’s serve twice and winning the championship without losing another game.The significance of that victory went beyond the title itself, as it turned around a year in which she had lost in the first round of the French Open. And as Williams comes close to retiring, that win illustrates how many fans will remember her tennis career — Williams coming back time and again under difficult circumstances.Here are some of the moments that helped Williams build that reputation.Australian Open, 2007Dean Treml/Agence France-Presse – Getty ImagesAfter struggling with a knee injury for much of 2006, Williams went into the 2007 Australian Open unseeded and ranked No. 81. But she went on to win the tournament, defeating Maria Sharapova.“She goes months without playing a match, loses in a tuneup and then runs the table,” Jon Wertheim, a Tennis Channel commentator and author, said.Pam Shriver, an ESPN tennis analyst, said that Williams entered the Australian Open that year in poor shape, but that by the end of the tournament, “she almost looked like a different player.”“That was one of the most memorable comebacks that I can remember that resulted in a major championship,” Shriver said.After the match, Sharapova said to the crowd in Rod Laver Arena that “you can never underestimate her as an opponent.”“I don’t think many of you expected her to be in the final, but I definitely did,” Sharapova said.2011 Health ScareChris Trotman/Getty ImagesIn February 2011, Williams was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism. Williams recovered in time to play Wimbledon, and later revealed the seriousness of her health scare.“I was literally on my deathbed at one point,” Williams said at the time. The circumstances, she said, changed her perspective, and she went into Wimbledon that year with “nothing to lose.”Serena Williams’s Farewell to TennisThe U.S. Open could be the tennis star’s last professional tournament after a long career of breaking boundaries and obliterating expectations.Decades of Greatness: Over 27 years, Serena Williams dominated generation after generation of opponents and changed the way women’s tennis is played, winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles and cementing her reputation as the queen of comebacks.Is She the GOAT?: Proclaiming Williams the greatest women’s tennis player of all time is not a straightforward debate, our columnist writes.An Enduring Influence: From former and current players’ memories of a young Williams to the new fans she drew to tennis, Williams left a lasting impression.Her Fashion: Since she turned professional in 1995, Williams has used her clothes as a statement of self and a weapon of change.Williams made it to the round of 16. Then, she won her next two tournaments, the Bank of the West Classic in California and the Rogers Cup in Canada. She finished her year by reaching the U.S. Open final, where she lost to Samantha Stosur.“That comeback was unbelievable,” Shriver said. “No matter the score, no matter whatever, she still thought she could win.”2012 Summer RunDoug Mills/The New York TimesWilliams was eliminated from the 2012 Australian Open in the round of 16, and she was upset at that year’s French Open, where she was knocked out in the first round.“When she lost in the French Open in the first round, the career buzzards came circling,” Wertheim said. “There were plenty of times her career was supposed to be over, and she came back. The obvious one is 2012.”Williams responded to the losses by training under a new coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who went on to work with her for the next decade.And after that French Open, Williams went on a streak. She won Wimbledon before taking the gold medals in women’s singles and doubles at the London Olympics, and then she delivered her win against Azarenka at the U.S. Open, “playing some of the most inspiring tennis of her career,” Wertheim said.French Open, 2015Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesAt the French Open in 2015, Williams lost the first set of three consecutive matches. Each time, she came back to win in three sets.“Opponents were points away from eliminating her, and Serena simply refused to go off the court anything other than the winner,” Wertheim said.Williams went on to win the semifinal while dealing with a bout of the flu.The day after the semifinal, still sick, Williams said she briefly thought about withdrawing from the final.“Out of 10 — a 10 being like take me to the hospital — I went from like a 6 to a 12 in a matter of two hours,” she said at the time. “I was just miserable. I was literally in my bed shaking, and I was just shaking, and I just started thinking positive.”Williams won the final for her 20th major singles title.Pregnancy ComebackClive Mason/Getty ImagesIn 2017, Williams surprised the tennis world when she shared that she had won that year’s Australian Open while she was close to two months pregnant.Williams missed the rest of the 2017 tennis season, and had another major health scare after she gave birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian. Williams was bedridden for her six weeks after she had blood clots in her lungs. Severe coughing caused her cesarean section wound to open. And doctors found a large hematoma, a collection of blood outside the blood vessels, in her abdomen.She returned to tennis in 2018, when she reached the Wimbledon final (where she lost to Angelique Kerber) and the U.S. Open final (where she lost to Naomi Osaka). The following year, she reached the Wimbledon final (losing to Simona Halep) and the U.S. Open final again (losing to Bianca Andreescu).“To have a child in the north half of your 30s and reach four major finals is an extraordinary feat that hasn’t gotten the full due,” Wertheim said.The Farewell ComebackHiroko Masuike/The New York TimesWilliams was forced to withdraw early in her first-round Wimbledon match last year because of an injury. She was given a standing ovation as she walked off the court in tears, as many began to wonder whether it would be the last time Williams would appear at the All England Club.She returned to Centre Court at Wimbledon this year but was defeated in the first round. She continued to struggle after that, losing early in the tournaments she has entered. At the National Bank Open in Toronto, Coco Gauff said that she was moved by how Williams has continued playing and “giving it her all.”“There’s nothing else she needs to give us in the game,” Gauff told reporters. “I just love that.”Williams will attempt one more comeback at this year’s U.S. Open. Along with her singles draw, she will also play in the women’s doubles tournament, partnered with her sister Venus. While we wait to see how this comeback takes shape, one certainty, Shriver said, is that Williams will be playing with the support of her fans.“The crowd is going to be crazy,” Shriver said. “I think the noise on a Serena win will be some of the loudest noise we’ve ever heard at the U.S. Open.” More

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      Serena Williams’s Legacy On the Court All About Power and Intimidation

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      Serena Williams did not invent a tennis shot, although she certainly came close to perfecting one with her serve.She was not, in the absolute sense, a pioneer for elite Black tennis players. Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe were the first Black players to face down the barriers to entry and succeed at the highest level, followed by champions like Zina Garrison and Yannick Noah.But there is no doubt, with Williams about to play in her farewell U.S. Open just ahead of turning 41, that she changed the game she long dominated; the game she has learned, over time, to treasure.Her legacy, which is in many respects shared with her older sister and soulmate Venus Williams, is evident in the powerful, aggressive style that has become the norm, if not quite the rule, on tour. See the full-cut, all-action, rip-the-return approach of No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina, the new Wimbledon champion.“One of the greatest impacts Serena had is she definitely took the game to a different level,” said Mary Joe Fernandez, the ESPN analyst and former WTA star whose playing career overlapped with those of the Williamses. “Serena changed it in different ways, whether physically, mentally or movement-wise. It just got better, and it got better because of Serena and also Venus.”The legacy is also there in the presence of talented young Black women’s stars like Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka and in the increasing number of Black junior players, who, along with their families, have used the Williams sisters as a template. Another indicator: 10 of the top 30 Americans in this week’s WTA singles rankings are Black or biracial (and none of those 10 is a Williams sister at this stage).Williams, right, talks to Naomi Osaka after their women’s singles semifinal at the 2021 Australian Open.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“I think everything started with Venus and Serena,” said Martin Blackman, general manager of player development at the United States Tennis Association. “There’s no doubt about the power and the impact of that demonstration effect. I think it was even more powerful because they grew up in Compton, and no matter where you live, you know that Compton is a tough place to grow up. And what their parents Richard and Oracene did to get them what they needed to become champions is just an unbelievable American success story.”That story, as Blackman points out, has resonated not just with African-American families. It has much broader reach.“It could be Latino, Asian or Caucasian — it doesn’t matter. It transcends all races,” said Nick Saviano, a veteran American coach who owns an academy in Florida and has worked with leading pro players like Sloane Stephens, Amanda Anisimova, Eugenie Bouchard and Gauff.“I see the Williamses’s impact every day,” Saviano said. “If I go to a 10-and-under tournament I see it. I see more people from different ethnic backgrounds. I see people daring to dream big.”In pure tennis terms, when it comes to the actual playing of the game, the Williams sisters have been more about evolution than revolution, more about the often-irresistible quality of the overall package than groundbreaking innovation. And though Serena has undoubtedly been the greatest player of this era, Venus, with a similar tool kit, did come first and is inextricably part of the step change.“I like to look at them individually and at their individual accomplishments, but it’s hard to separate them because they helped each other be great,” said Corey Gauff, father and coach of Coco Gauff.Venus and Serena Williams playing doubles at the U.S. Open in 2009.Raymond McCrea Jones/The New York TimesThe great women’s players who preceded the sisters had plenty of strengths. Chris Evert was a paragon of cool and consistency. Martina Navratilova set new standards for fitness and attacking prowess, relishing life at the net. Steffi Graf had speed and explosive power off her unconventional, often-airborne forehand, and her crisply chipped backhand was devilish in a different way: skidding low and proving difficult to attack.Monica Seles, with deft double-handed groundstrokes, was a relentless ball-striker and in-the-moment competitor who hugged the baseline and could hit winners off the short bounce with her forehand or her backhand. The relatively underpowered Martina Hingis played tennis akin to chess or geometry by changing paces, angles and trajectories.But Venus and then, very quickly, Serena posed an unprecedented, multipronged threat. They were big servers and big hitters who could also sprint into the corners, players who could produce winners with any stroke and make their side of the court look frightfully small to the opposition.“It was just like another dimension of physicality, power and mental toughness,” Fernandez said. “I think those are the three things that stood out: how hard and how consistently they were able to hit the ball and how well they were able to cover the court and then the grit. I mean, to beat Serena you had to knock her out a few times.”Serena Williams became known for her powerful serve.Alana Holmberg for The New York TimesFernandez, a three-time Grand Slam singles finalist once ranked as high as No. 4, said the Williamses’s emergence contributed to her decision to retire in 2000.“I caught Serena and Venus at the end of my career, but they’re one of the reasons I was like, ‘OK, the game has evolved now, and I can’t keep up’,” she said “It was such a struggle to be able to withstand it. I couldn’t match it, so I just knew this was now a different level, a different stage in the sport. Game-wise, I think they both improved as years went by, both became better players and became students of the game, but it was just that dominant power, court coverage and intensity.”Justine Henin, the Belgian star with the gorgeous one-handed backhand who was one of Serena’s early and fiercest rivals, said that the intimidation was real.“We can talk all we want about her tennis qualities, but one of her strengths was to show that she was convinced that she was going to walk right over you even though normally she should have been full of doubts like all players,” Henin said of Serena in a recent interview with the French publication L’Équipe. “That generated all kinds of fears for her opponents. I was afraid for a long time.”Swiatek, Gauff and the new wave of women’s players seem less inclined to intimidate their opponents, though anyone who has experienced Aryna Sabalenka roar as she generates startlingly easy power can detect a sonic and attitudinal link with Serena.The Williams sisters popularized the open-stance backhand and the swing or drive volley, though they were not the progenitors.Serena Williams plays a backhand at the 2019 Australian Open.Asanka Brendon Ratnayake for The New York Times“People say Serena was not a great volleyer, and no, she wouldn’t be categorized as having a great forehand or backhand volley,” Saviano said. “Because most of the time she was finishing points with swinging volleys, and she was brilliant at it.”The sisters also re-emphasized the importance of early preparation on the backhand.“Super early,” Saviano said. “They basically just pulled the racket back almost immediately and waited for the ball. Technically, that was a bit unusual.”They followed Seles’s lead by attacking second serves relentlessly, even when the errors sometimes piled up.The next generation clearly took note, and it is a tribute to both sisters and part of their heritage that their power is no longer a cut above. Their successors have adapted, as Emma Raducanu, last year’s surprise U.S. Open champion from Britain, made clear when she beat Serena, 6-4, 6-0, in the first round of the Western and Southern Open this month. Raducanu counterpunched coolly and effectively when Serena upped the volume and velocity.Though there were true power servers in the pre-Williams years like Brenda Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands, Serena raised the bar with her smooth and potent serve. More women on tour are capable of regularly approaching 110 miles per hour and beyond with their first serves, players like Rybakina, Osaka, Sabalenka, Gauff, Karolina Pliskova and Maria Sakkari.“I really think Serena let people know if you’re strong and tall and want to be successful in tennis, you can serve this big,” said Rennae Stubbs, the ESPN analyst and former world No. 1 doubles player from Australia who has also coached stars like Pliskova.A fan holds a sign in support of Serena Williams during the match between Williams and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain during the Western & Southern Open in August.Dylan Buell/Getty ImagesStubbs is providing Serena with on-court advice this week during practice as part of the coaching team. “I’m just helping; I’m advising,” she said. “We’ve been great friends for a long time, and I’m just helping her as much as I can to finish this career the way it deserves to be finished.”Stubbs added: “Whatever happens, she has proved herself to be truly one of the great athletes of all time, and we’re going to miss her passion. That’s the word I think that epitomizes Serena so well is just passion for the game of tennis and sports and passion for excellence. That’s what separates the great ones.”She continued: “And when they felt the excellence was not there anymore, they could walk away. And I think that’s where Serena is at right now.”Though Serena has announced that the end is near, she still is not prepared to state plainly that the U.S. Open is her last tournament, even as she prepares to face Danka Kovinic, an unseeded Montenegrin, in the first round on Monday night.“I don’t know, I think so, but who knows?” she said on Thursday during a public appearance hosted by a Manhattan hotel.The Australian Open, the next Grand Slam tournament on the calendar, starts in January. Could she be there?“I don’t think so,” she said. “You never know. I’ve learned in my career: Never say never.”Serena Williams practices at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThere is a message in her resistance to goodbye, as well. She has played far longer than even she expected or her father, Richard, predicted. In doing so, in coming back from childbirth at age 36 to play several more seasons, she has reminded the younger generation to follow their own timelines, much as Navratilova did before her and as her 41-year-old contemporary Roger Federer has done in the game that he also is clearly loath to leave.“I think one of the best things Serena has given to this sport is her longevity and still wanting to be great,” Stubbs said.That is part of her legacy, too. More

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      Serena Williams Always Made a Strong First Impression

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      Long before Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, she was turning heads. Countless memories fade, but not, it seems, when Williams was involved.From the time she was a young girl until this month, when she announced the approaching end of her tennis career on the cover of the September issue of Vogue, Serena Williams has always made a strong impression.Ask people around tennis about their first encounter with Williams or their first glimpse of her, and almost invariably they respond with a memory so crisp and detailed that the moment might as well have happened last week.Billie Jean King, the tennis icon and founder of the WTA, said in her 2021 autobiography “All In” that she first met a 6-year-old Williams and her 7-year-old sister, Venus, in April 1988 at a tennis clinic in Long Beach, Calif.“Their mother, Oracene, told me that day that she and her husband, Richard, taught the girls to play and they all came to the clinic from their home in Compton to pick up some pointers,” King said. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow,’ these girls have the ability to be the very best.”Former and current tennis players and others who knew a young Serena Williams shared with The New York Times their first impression of her before she became a worldwide star by winning 23 Grand Slam singles championships.The interviews have been edited for clarity and length.Alexandra StevensonFormer professional tennis player, ESPN U.S. Open analyst and Williams’s friend for more than 30 yearsIt was Morley Field in San Diego. My mom was a reporter covering a girl who was supposed to be a phenom at 10 years old. That was Venus Williams. I liked her name. I was 9. I wasn’t playing tournaments yet. This was a local San Diego tournament, and Venus was in the finals. It was easy to spot her father, Richard, and the family. They were the only Black people in a mostly white and Asian environment, standing off to the side.The younger girls were playing a hand game. They looked fun to me. I had been going to jump-rope school, and I had two ropes with me. I was hoping to find kids for double Dutch while my mom worked. Venus and Serena were with their older sisters Isha and Lyndrea.“Can you jump?” I asked Venus, the taller one with braids sticking out all over her head. The beads, I guess, would come later.“I can jump,” she said.Venus decided that Lyndrea and Isha would turn the ropes. Venus said, “She jumps first,” and pushed Serena into the ropes.I laughed and jumped in with Serena. We jumped and jumped. No one missed.That’s how it always was for us. We were always together giggling, telling stories.Pam ShriverFormer Grand Slam doubles championI was at one of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No to Drugs” events at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. Serena and Venus were 9 and 10 and playing in the charity event. Serena was little then, but then they came to Baltimore to play my charity event and played against the Ripken brothers.Venus, left, and Serena Williams, second from right, with President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, in 1990.AllsportWhen they came to Baltimore, I invited Venus and Richard and Serena to stay and help me prepare for my next tournament. Serena was a little young, but I remember her power at maybe 12 years old, and that has been the heart of her career. She had that live, powerful arm, and the first time I saw that serve, I could tell she had the smoothest, most efficient and powerful service motion ever.Rick MacciTennis coach who brought the Williams family to FloridaIt was in 1991 when I went to Compton, Calif. Richard called me. He knew I had worked with Jennifer Capriati. He told me I wanted to come to Compton to see his girls. He said, “I promise you won’t get shot.”We went to a park, and there were people playing basketball and people passed out on the grass when we got out of the van.Everyone said: “Hey, Venus. Hey, Meek,” because that is what they called Serena. Richard pulled out this old cart of old balls and said he liked using old dead balls because he wanted the girls running and digging them out of the ground.The first hour was a train wreck, and I didn’t see anything, but you don’t judge a book by its cover. We started playing competitive points. Me and Venus against Serena. Once we started that, the footwork got a lot better. There was a rage inside these two little kids once we kept score. They ran so fast they almost fell down. I said, “You’ve got the next female Michael Jordan,” referring to Venus, because she was older and better then. Richard said, “I got the next two.”Mary CarilloTennis commentator and 1977 French Open mixed doubles championMy first true memories of Serena’s greatness are from 1999, when she played dizzyingly good hardcourt tennis at Indian Wells, then Miami. The beads. Those beads were so damn cool. She looked locked in and fearless, beating Steffi Graf in the Indian Wells final and Martina Hingis in Miami. Then, she faced Venus in the Miami final. Venus got that one.It was an awkward, uncomfortable thing for them to play one another and for me to call, but by the end of that summer, at the U.S. Open, sweet Jesus. I’m not sure there could have been a tougher draw than the one she got through. Oh, and did I mention the beads?Williams announced the approaching end of her tennis career on the cover of the September issue of Vogue.Mike Nelson/Agence France-Presse-Getty ImagesMartin BlackmanFormer professional tennis player and the general manager of player development for the United States Tennis AssociationIt was a match against Irina Spirlea at the U.S. Open in 1998.The skill, the poise, the power and willingness to finish forward with swinging volleys or regular volleys at the net. And, of course, her serve. My impression was: “She’s going to be great!”Kevin Garnett15-time N.B.A. All-Star, Olympic gold medalist and tennis fanI first met her in 1995. I was on Oprah Winfrey’s show with Venus, a show about athletes with potential. I don’t think Serena was actually on the show, but I met her backstage and we spoke.Then when she started playing, I just remember my sisters and my cousins didn’t care at all about tennis, and then as soon as we all saw Serena, suddenly all they wanted to do was play.For me, still, every time I think of her, it’s her walking onto the court for the first time in that catsuit, the black Puma catsuit.John McEnroeSeven-time Grand Slam singles champion and tennis commentatorIt wasn’t totally accurately portrayed in the movie “King Richard.”I first met her when she was 8 years old, when she was brought to the court I was practicing on and then being told by my then-coach, Paul Cohen, and Richard Williams that her and Venus were going to be the two best players in the world. It was like, call me in 10 years, we’ll see what’s happening.I didn’t walk away in disgust, or refuse to see Serena. That’s all I’m saying. I was there. Saw them. Why would I walk away after being told that I’m going to see two kids, 8 and 9, that are going to be future No. 1s? Like, I refuse to see these kids? For what? Because I’m a hothead? But that’s not correct.Chris Evert18-time Grand Slam singles championShe played in my first celebrity tournament. I had a celebrity event that was the fight against drug abuse and prevention of drug abuse. And she and Venus were living down here in Florida.From left: Chris Evert, Serena Williams, Tracy Austin and Venus Williams at the 1992 Chris Evert Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic.Art Seitz/Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesThe first thing that strikes anybody is the power, the power in their games. The athleticism, the relaxed athleticism that they have and the way they move. Twelve and 13 years old, and they weren’t afraid to go to the net and volley. They had such an advanced game for that age. It was a different kind of a game than any juniors that I had ever seen. And they were very happy. Very happy. They were enjoying the attention, and they were enjoying going out there and playing tennis.Daniil MedvedevWorld No. 1 men’s tennis playerI’ve actually never hit with her, but I remember watching her on television as a kid. This was back when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were winning everything, and she was just like them. It seemed like she was absolutely crushing everyone she played.I know she lost matches. Everyone can lose matches, but I remember with Serena you had to watch from the beginning if you wanted to see her because it always seemed like it was 6-2, 6-2 and over in 45 minutes.

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