Wimbledon suits them
The injuries and intrigue, passion for fashion, disdain for the tennis grind and insistence on go-for-broke strokes – all in the context of a friendly sibling rivalry – make even Mom reluctant to predict what the Williams sisters might do next.
They’d love to win Wimbledon, and Venus and Serena Williams will be among the favorites when the tournament begins Monday. But both have been erratic this year, raising anew questions about their devotion to a sport they once dominated.
“They have a lot of things going on with their life,” said their mother and coach, Oracene Price. “Sometimes you never know what’s going on in their head, especially girls.”
The sisters are coming off a rare double defeat at the French Open, where they were eliminated in the third round. It was only the second time they lost on the same day at a Grand Slam event, which should stoke their desire for a strong showing at Wimbledon.
“We always learn and get more determined after a loss,” Venus said.
Grass often puts extra spring in their step. They’ve combined to win six of the past eight Wimbledon titles, and a return to the All England Club rejuvenated Venus’ game last year, when she won the trophy for the fourth time and became the tournament’s lowest-ranked women’s champion at No. 31.
On the surface, it’s easy to explain the sisters’ success at Wimbledon: Lawn tennis suits their big serves, slam-bang groundstrokes and willingness to charge the net.
In addition, they find inspiration in the tradition that accompanies the tournament.
“Wimbledon, I think, has been around for hundreds of years,” Serena said. “It doesn’t get better than that.”
It has actually been around since 1884, when another family dominated: Maud Watson beat sister Lilian in the final.
More than a century later, the world’s oldest and most tradition-bound tennis tournament is in transition. A retractable roof over Centre Court is still a year from completion, but an overhead cover for fans is back after the ongoing project left them with no protection last year. Capacity has increased to 15,000 from 13,800.
A new Court 2 is nearly finished, and the old one will be used this year for the last time. That’s good news for such players as the Williams sisters, because Court 2 has long been nicknamed the “Graveyard of Champions.”
There are plenty of candidates to derail the sisters’ title hopes this year, including French Open winner Ana Ivanovic and 2004 Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova.
Ivanovic will play her first tournament as the world’s top-ranked player.
“Obviously, now a lot of players will play their best tennis against me,” the 20-year-old Ivanovic said. “Being No. 1 holds more pressure. But you’re also a professional athlete, and if you want to achieve your goals, you have to learn how to handle the pressure and realize that pressure is also kind of a reward, because you put yourself in a position to do something memorable.”
On the men’s side, Roger Federer remains No. 1 for the 229th week in a row, extending his record. He’ll play the first Centre Court match to begin his bid for a sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. In the past 100 years, only Federer and Bjorn Borg (1976-80) have won five in a row.
But for the first time in several years, Federer appears vulnerable even on his favorite surface. A bout with mononucleosis slowed him early in the year, and against Rafael Nadal in the French Open final, Federer endured his most lopsided Grand Slam loss.
Nadal is trying to become the first man since Borg in 1980 to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. He was runner-up to Federer at Wimbledon the last two years.