Serena Williams, the 38-year-old red-letter American with 23 major titles glittering beside her name, was named among the Time Magazine’s list of top 100 influential women of the last century, “100 Women of the Year”.
More interestingly, as Time Magazine also published the list of “100 Women of the Year” in order to honour the history of women empowerment on March 8th, 2020, the International Women’s day, the day coincided with the 100th anniversary of approving female voting rights in the United States.
Besides, while clarifying the reasons behind adding Serena Williams in the list of top 100 women of the century, the Times Magazine said that it was an approach to undermine the contributions of the women who were largely overshadowed and Serena, who had still been among top ten in WTA ranking at the age of 38, was included in to the list due to her record 2003 season, while she became the fifth women in the history of WTA to hold all four Grand Slams at the same time.
Meanwhile, referring to Serena’s influence which has added a new dimension in to women’s tennis, the Magazine wrote in the report, “Williams was only 21 years old. If she had reached her peak at that time, she would have deserved distinctions like an all-time great.
The Open era – later, it has more influence than ever. Its influence extends far beyond the baseline. Critics called his racist names and tried to shame him for his muscular figure. But Williams embraced his body and darkness, with the same force as one of his two-handed backhands: even his occasional outbursts with referees spark national debates on decorum and double standards.
She battled fatal injuries and illnesses, including a complicated delivery of her daughter Olympia in 2017. Months later, however, Williams returned to the women’s tour, at 36, as a working mom. most famous in the world.
Since then, she has reached the finals of four major events, showing that women can embrace motherhood and work as long and exhausting as professional tennis. During his decades of greatness, Williams has inspired a new generation of tennis talent, young women of colour who, like her, have dared to embark on what has long been a white lily sport.
Rising stars Naomi Osaka, 22, and Coco Gauff, 15, idolize Williams. Gauff grew up in Florida with his poster on his wall. Williams hasn’t just taken women’s tennis to new heights. It has ensured its heritage in the generations that will follow it.
Mouratoglou: “Serena Williams is getting closer and closer to 100% fitness”
Serena Williams has been missing the Slam title since 2017 and in 2019 she was defeated in both finals played respectively at Wimbledon and the US Open. At the Australian Open in Melbourne, the former World number 1 defeated Anastasia Potapova and Tamara Zidanšek in the first and second rounds respectively in straight sets, before falling to Wang Qiang in three tight sets in the third round.
In a recent interview, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou spoke about the conditions of the 23-time Grand Slam champion. “She’s getting closer and closer to 100 percent fitness, but I don’t think she’s there yet.
It’s important to feel that your fitness is at a high enough level to enable you to get a lot of balls back if you run into trouble in the rallies,” said Mouratoglou. “Serena Williams has played in seven Grand Slam tournaments and reached the finals of four of them, losing on each occasion.
In none of them did we see the Serena who had won 23 Grand Slam singles titles before she took a 14-month break to have her first child. People ask me whether Serena is playing enough tournaments away from the Grand Slam events.
Of course, playing and winning matches can only give you confidence. But I don’t feel that a lack of confidence has been the problem for her. You don’t win quarter-finals and semi-finals in the way that she has without feeling confident. Similarly, there has been no problem with her level of tennis going into these finals”.
