USTA Metro Region Update

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Serenity

Six-Time Champion Serena Williams Headlines 2020 U.S. Open

By Brian Coleman

More than two decades ago, Serena Williams made history in New York City. Just 17-years-old at the time, Williams overcame a nearly impossible draw to win the U.S. Open and hoist her first Grand Slam title.

In doing so, she became the first African-American woman to win a major in the Open Era, and the first African-American winner of the U.S. Open since Althea Gibson in 1958.

“It’s really amazing for me to even have an opportunity to be compared to a player as great as Althea Gibson,” she said at the time. “One of her best friends told me she wanted to see another African-American win a Slam before her time is up. I’m excited I had a chance to accomplish that while she’s still alive.”

While Serena was already a phenom, still a teenager and already one of the best players in the world, the title ascended her to another level of star, and cemented her spot in U.S. Open lore.

“I always said I was going to win a Grand Slam, and next thing I know, I’d won, beating the No. 1 player in the world,” Williams told GQ Magazine in 2018, referring to Martina Hingis whom she defeated 6-3, 7-6(4) in the finals. “Hingis was really dominating everyone at that time, so I was glad to get that one.”

Hingis was the final victory in a dominating two-week showing by Williams who, from the Round of 16 through the championship match, defeated four players in a row who were already Grand Slam champions at the time: Conchita Martinez, Monica Seles, Lindsey Davenport and Hingis. Not to mention defeating a future multiple Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters in the third-round.

Richard Williams, the family patriarch who famously coached both Serena and Venus ever since they were little girls, couldn’t be happier:

“This is my proudest moment—I’m so proud,” he said of the family’s first U.S. Open championship (Venus, Serena’s older sister, would win the event the following year in 2000). “Words cannot express how I’m feeling. Everything flashed back during the match.”

It would take her until the 2002 French Open to win her next major title, but then begun the era of Serena Williams. Following her triumph at Roland Garros, she won Wimbledon and then her second U.S. Open title to finish out 2002, and began 2003

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with an Australian Open title to complete the “Serena Slam” and the rest, as they say, is history.

Twenty-one years and 22 more major titles after she held court in Queens in 1999, the 38-year-old Williams remains a constant threat to win the U.S. Open year in and year out. And as we approach the start of the 2020 U.S. Open, perhaps the most unique installment in the event’s history, she is ready for what looks to be a long fortnight in New York City.

With the surge of COVID-19 cases in the United States, many of tennis’ biggest names expressed concern over coming stateside to compete in this year’s second major. But the tournament got the biggest endorsement when, during the event’s official press conference, Williams exclaimed how excited she was that the tournament was going to be played, and committed to it right then and there.

“This announcement has been on my mind all day. Ultimately, I really cannot wait to return to New York and play the U.S. Open,” she said. “I feel like the USTA is going to do a really good job of ensuring everything is amazing, and everyone is safe. It’s going to be exciting. It’s been over six months since a lot of us have played professional tennis. I’ll certainly miss the fans, don’t get me wrong. Just being out there in the New York crowd hearing everyone cheer, I’ll miss that…[But] this is crazy. I’m excited.”

Williams mentioned the long layoff that professional tennis players have had in between competitive tournaments, and she has made sure to keep herself busy during these off-months. Most recently, her husband Alexis Ohanion and even the couple’s daughter, Alexis Olympia, were part of a large investment group that will be bringing a professional women’s soccer team to Los Angeles in 2022. That investment group includes prominent actors Natalie Portman, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Garner and Eva Longoria, as well as former soccer stars Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy. "I am proud to be a part of this wonderful group working to bring a women's

professional football club to Los Angeles," said Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian said in a statement. "Chiefly, because I'm a fan of the game, but also because I believe there is massive potential for the sport and it's been undervalued by too many people for far too long. As someone who spends hours kicking around a football with my two-year-old daughter, I want her to have a front-row seat to this revolution. I'm personally investing on behalf of my family because creating more opportunities in women's sports is important to my wife and me, and we want to be a part of making a better future for our daughter." Williams has long been a strong voice for equality in the United States, whether that be for pay equality between men and women or the racial injustices that we still see occur. That has only been enhanced this summer with countless protests taking place across the nation, and Williams continues to lend her voice and powerful status to the causes she feels strongly about. That expects to remain constant as we move through the U.S. Open and beyond.

“I can’t and still can’t find the words to say or express how sad I feel.... but she found them for me,” she posted on Instagram, sharing a video of a little girl speaking about inequality. “She found them

Photo credit: USTA

for so many of us. A lot of us are numb... lost for words... I know I am. This is a difficult time. A lot of us growing up were taught to pray, ‘Let thy kingdom come,’ this is what I continue to pray for in addition to so many that have been hurt/killed, or simply traumatized by how people of a different color are treated. The worst part is this is nothing new, ‘it’s just filmed.’ I’m with a heavy heart. I’m lost for words.”

Williams’ outspoken voice means a lot to so many people, and that expects to remain constant as we move through the U.S. Open and beyond, where you can expect her to continue advocating for the causes she believes in.

She will arrive in New York in search of her seventh U.S. Open crown and her 24th major overall. Williams finds herself currently ranked ninth in the world, and with the significant variable of not knowing who will make up the rest of the field, the legend can be considered the tournament’s favorite.

The Queen of Queens has made countless memories inside Arthur Ashe Stadium throughout her career, and she will look to add some more memories in the late New York City summer.

Brian Coleman is senior editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached by email at BrianC@USPTennis.com.