Serena Williams - why did she enter Wimbledon?

[deedee176]

Surely not for the money. For the love of tennis and the winning buzz? Or was she being a bit delusional or arrogant to think she could be a top class sportsperson at 44. She was one of the worlds best and highest achieving athletes - her tennis legacy is unmatched.
AIBU to think she should not have entered Wimbledon?

Whenever Henri Leconte plays in the invitation doubles its one of the highlights that grace my telly!

I've never been a Serena fan - I always disliked her attitude and I didn't care much for her tennis style. It was quite ironic that having been successful in the Wimbledon tickets ballot I was actually in the crowd on Centre Court and saw her match. I was vocally supporting Maya Joint and I am full of admiration for her attitude on court and the way she played.

Serena clearly thrives on adulation and admiration. But personally the cynic in me thinks her return was about money: that because she is the brand ambassador for the weight loss drug she uses this was the perfect way to advertise it. And given her H is a big investor in the company and on the board this well advertised tennis return was financially beneficial for them.

@AnonymityAnonymity I think there’s a lot in that. It’s not prize money, it’s PR and Wimbledon didn’t have to vibe her a wildcard. The press seemed to like her there. It’s also a “problem” that there’s no iconic female player at the moment, so straws are grasped.

It may well do, but not because she waited for five minutes to give an after match interview.
Still not sure it’s not just an excuse for losing

Oh definitely Wimbledon itself benefitted from the publicity her appearance generated. I mean the reception she got on Centre Court was amazing.

If you are looking for iconic women players I think Sabalenka is pretty iconic but the fact she is Belarusian is a problem for a lot of people.

There are loads of really good and interesting women players around and personally I'd rather not see individual players, either women or men, built up to superstar status because adulation is pretty boring.

Quite often, for me, the most interesting matches are the ones on the outer courts or at the lesser tournaments between the up and coming players and sometimes the older experienced players on their way down the rankings. I mean one of the reasons I disliked Serena when she was at the top of the game was because her matches were so one sided. She just used pure power to hit the opposition off the court and it was downright boring to see and embarrassing to hear the commentators worshipping her.

I don’t think being humble makes for a good sportsperson. You really have to believe in yourself.

You can believe in yourself and still behave graciously in public. Arthur Ashe, mentioned above, always did. As did the other greats in the past - Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Evonne Goolagong, Chris Evert and many others.

Serena Williams is not just any old ex-tennis player. She's an all-time great and an inspiration to young girls everywhere who are thinking of getting into sport.

By entering this year, she's raised the profile of both women's sport and Wimbledon in general. I'm glad she was given a wild card, and I applaud her courage in entering the tournament knowing she would receive a load of criticism for it, such as the kind she has had on this thread. She must have known she had no chance of winning. She's still made history by doing so, and good for her. I hope she had a lot of fun.

She was just too strong for your taste?
Serena ruled ok 😍🤩

I think what this poster is saying is that Serena’s game was about power rather than nuance, touch etc.
I don’t entirely agree; I think she also had great match play and set up points very well. But no, I don’t think this poster meant she just thought Serena was too strong.

And more recently/currently Carlos Alcaraz, Barbora Krejcikova, Madison Keys, Rafa Nadal, Andy Murray, Steffi Graf, Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka…
All comport(ed) themselves politely and graciously.

This is another racialised trope, even though I am sure that was not the intention. Inferior brain, monstrously advantaged body. Brute force but incapable of subtlety and strategy.

I love the Williams sisters and am glad they survived the envy that surrounds them.

Oh, give it a rest. If you're sure that was not the intention, why mention it, other than perhaps to show off your superiority in matters of critical race theory.

The same observation could be (and probably has been) made of Aryna Sabalenka, another tall, powerfully built player who has an immense serve and great physical strength as weapons, and who happens to be white.

It would not be the same observation. There are centuries of dehumanisation of Black women along these lines. Not at all theoretical. 19th-20th century zoo-style exhibits. Nowadays, less access to pain relief and poor maternal outcomes.

If the trope is active, naming it may put it to rest.

Of course there is a particular context when certain things are said in relation to Black women (or men), but sometimes people are really not being racist and really not being biased, consciously or otherwise.
You really don't need to keep showing off your immense knowledge and awareness. Many of us on here are very aware of these issues.

I don't think the players can wear branded stuff at Wimbledon can they?

Why would she need a new house and even if she did she's one of the richest sportspersons she could just buy one

How is it showing off? I never studied 'critical race theory'.
I do know when a successful Black woman is damned with faint praise for her brawn, that is not ok. Same as normalised antisemitism is not ok, same as internalised misogyny is not ok. School of life lessons.
Freeing ourselves from stereotyping is a good thing, surely?

I have no clue as to her motivation but I’m glad to see a thread on it. I watched it on tv and had many thoughts fly around my head - I switched it on not knowing she was playing this year - whoosh straight over my head!

it was fascinating to see an elite athlete and what they look like out of training. They look like us! Regular. Normal.

Serena looked slower than her former self. It reminded me of how the sisters transformed tennis. They were POWER. She still landed a few of those powerhouse blows.

i found myself empathising with Joint - I didn’t want to see her knocked out in this way. Too young too new for a spotlight defeat. I was relieved she won.

I felt sorry for Joint and all those questions afterwards! Not an easy thing to do.

Serena was very composed and gracious on court. I felt like I was a fly on the wall watching the match. I really enjoyed it!

To the poster who said she was there - that must have been some experience! Amazing.

I think what this poster is saying is that Serena’s game was about power rather than nuance, touch etc.

Tennis for me became boring when it became all about the power of the serve and one no longer had the extended rallies where players showed their skill and elegance and variety of strokes as they covered the whole court.

And before anyone accuses me of racism, this was before the Williams sisters were on the scene.

I know the old serve and volley style is pretty much moribund, but at Wimbledon this year so far there have certainly been long rallies and some breathtaking skill and court coverage.
Mirra Andreeva and Barbora Krejcikova's match yesterday comes to mind, as do Jannik Sinner's two matches so far.

Why did Michael Schumacher re-enter Formula One?

She is one of the greatest players of all time. Of course Wimbledon would give her a wild card. There was a buzz around the tournament and a lot of interest from the media. Tournaments need that.

She was a sore loser (it is not racist to say that - another tennis player is getting the same comments for similar yesterday) but to be honest sport is getting a bit boring sometimes with all the media training and everyone saying the right thing.

It’s the fear of criticising anyone with a skin colour other than white that resulted in the Henry Novak case, and the Rotherham situation two give but two examples.

Oh for goodness sake. Nobody needs to be 'afraid'. Just to be aware of historical and current circumstances around Black women. Sisterhood has too often failed in this respect.

Happily down a rabbit hole reading about the younger Queen Serena's tactical skills and technical variety.

One of several articles: 10 Tennis Shots That Prove Serena Williams Is Queen share.google/CxVYXYX8t7ZAuUGGW

Several people on here have been criticised for criticising SW though