Serena is not in business of losing

Chief Sports Writer

Saturday 7 July 2012

RICHARD WILLIAMS sits on a landing near the players' restaurant at Wimbledon.

Custom byline text:

Hugh MacDonald

His voice is deep and carries the tones of someone discussing high-level commerce. The family business is tennis. The leading directors are his daughters, Venus and Serena.

The younger sister will contest this afternoon's Wimbledon women's singles final against Agnieska Radwanska. It is a match that the 30-year-old American is heavily favoured to win. The 23-year-old Pole is suffering from a respiratory illness and cancelled a press conference yesterday as a precaution.

She expects to be fully fit for the challenge today. She will have to be, because Serena Williams has a family mission to complete. The departure of Venus, who lost in the first round, from the top rank of women's tennis may be permanent as she is suffering from an auto-immune illness.Serena, too, has endured her trials but has recovered from them all. "People see me on the court only as a superhero, grunting and winning. They think you're a robot and I'm not," she once said.It is easy to dismiss Williams as a phenomenal physical presence. She fires down serves at speeds of up to 120mph and can simply overpower her opponents. But she has gone two years without winning a major. "I've just fallen short those few times. I think, if anything, it helped me. It helped me realise you can't be perfect. You can't win 'em all. You can go and definitely try. That's all I'm doing, just trying."This striving has been Serena's hallmark since she stepped on to a court in Compton, Los Angeles, as a four-year-old. Her personality is complex. "I'm a real extrovert," she says, "but when I'm round someone new, I'm super shy."Her life is marked by her successes on court. But it is shaped by her family relationships. Serena admits she was always the spoiled child. "I was the princess. I was everybody's pet." She kept her eyes on Venus. Serena believes Venus summed up everything that was good in life. Venus was pretty, confident and successful as a child. Serena was desperate to be the same. The younger sister was immediately a relentless competitor. She cheated when playing against Venus, desperate to win. Serena has risen to become one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. But there are flaws behind the confident smile.She has sprayed on a catsuit and prowled with menace in the US Open. She has even worn sexy boots as she has walked to take her seat in major tournaments. But she can be fragile.The four-time Wimbledon singles champion says of her break-up with an American football player she does not wish to name: "He left me thinking I was ugly, that I did not deserve to be in a loving relationship. Heck, I didn't love me any more."Her self-love has been restored over the years. Serena has found purpose and happiness outside of tennis. She is heavily involved in charity work and started schools in Senegal and Nigeria in Africa. She visited the "slave castles" in Ghana. This is where African slaves were held until they were taken on their awful voyages to a life in shackles in the US."How could you not cry over something like this?" she says. "How can you not be changed? My mindset changed as a result of that trip."Serena also made time to start a fashion business. She designs many of the clothes she wears. She also pursues an acting career. Her love life has been splattered over magazines and newspapers since she broke through to the top but there has been no marriage.She had a big decision to make in the crisis after the death of her sister Yetunde, who was shot dead in 2003 in Compton. Did Serena want to go playing tennis? "All my life I'd woken up to tennis, tennis, tennis. Even if I don't practise, I'm thinking about it all day."And to have it on your mind for 24 years is a long time. So that's what I was questioning. Is this something I really love. Is it something my dad wanted me to do? Is it something I'm doing cos Venus is doing it?"Serena came back from the horror of Yetunde's death to become a multiple grand slam winner. In the 2007 final of the Australian Open, she faced the rising star in Maria Sharapova."I will not be denied" was her motto for the tournament. She demolished the Russian in the heat of Melbourne. Her victory speech ended: "Most of all I would like to dedicate this victory to my sister who is not here. Her name is Yetunde and I just love her so much."The Williams family is at Wimbledon. Serena's task is to leave with the title. The family business demands another dividend.

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Serena is not in business of losing

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED