Williams, the greatest?

Serena Williams' remarkable domination of her sport

Every time Serena Williams steps on court these days, she is chasing history. Towards the end of her Wimbledon semi-final on Thursday with Maria Sharapova, who has been most regularly her opponent in recent years, Williams' nerves seemed to be momentarily catching up with her. Serving for the match at 5-4, she double-faulted. But she closed out the match in characteristic style: two aces hit at about 120 miles per hour and one unreturnable service winner. The score was 6-2, 6-4, marking her 17th straight win over the Russian.

"Serena style" ought to become shorthand for total domination of a sport. Winning her 21st Grand Slam title on Saturday has put her within one Grand Slam tournament of tying with Steffi Graf's tally of 22 Grand Slam titles. At the US Open this September, she will be 34 - but in another sign of how large she looms, it seems almost inevitable that Williams will at least match Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam titles before she retires. (Winning a calendar Grand Slam will also equal Court's slam of 1970.)
 

Given that she and sister Venus grew up playing on municipal courts in a dangerous Los Angeles suburb where they often had to be watchful for bullets flying in the wake of the gang warfare the city was then infamous for, Williams' journey to become the greatest in her sport is all the more remarkable. She has also come back from back, ankle and quadriceps injuries over the years. In 2006, she battled depression, seeing a therapist daily. (The fatal shooting of her eldest sister a couple of years earlier was likely a contributing factor.)

Then in the stuff of fairytales, Williams met a young girl who idolised her. The chance meeting gave Williams the confidence to make a renewed attempt at a comeback. She has been written off as past her prime so many times, starting a decade ago - most memorably by the former Australian champion Pat Cash who described her prediction at the beginning of 2007 that she would be number one again as "deluded" - that it seemed like a mantra to spur her on to greater heights.

Williams' career has not been accorded the respect it deserved because she has had the misfortune to be overshadowed by the magical flair of Roger Federer and the gladiatorially combative spirit of Rafael Nadal. Her claim to being the greatest in her sport is much greater than either of them, however. Federer has such a miserable win-loss (10-23) record against Nadal that it raises questions about how strong he is mentally. Nadal, meanwhile, has proved so mercurial - except when playing Federer - that his years in the sport now seem numbered by repeated injury. Williams, by contrast, marches on. Some critics point out that there is not enough competition. There is some truth in that - but it is also in part because Williams has outlasted rivals like the Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. She has destroyed Sharapova repeatedly. To question the greatness of a sportsperson because she has ruled her sport so completely and for so long is an odd quibble.