IF SERENA WINS US OPEN

Leave Your Asterisks at the Door and Bow Down if Serena Williams Wins the US Open

The American is preparing to turn a miserable year into something positive; watching her attempt it will be must-see TV.

By Chris Oddo

You can’t hide from who you are. And the truth, well it can be ugly, but it can also set you free.

All of this has surely been considered by Serena Williams as she prepares to take the court in search of a goal that has eluded her for far too long. Once again, all eyes will be on her. Once again, the pressure will mount. Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

There will be no fans in the seats and no packed pressers with probing questions. Make no mistake though, the world’s watchful eyes will be focused just as intently; that make-you-squirm pressure will be just as relentless on the six-time US Open champion. The tennis world, no doubt, will be collectively holding its breath and buckling in for the type of wild ride that only a transcendent figure like Queen Serena can offer.

Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

And away we go, tennis in the time of coronavirus. No guard rails, no training wheels, no backing down. As a global pandemic threatens to take down the world as we know it, there is Serena Williams: a 23- time Grand Slam champion questing for 24.

Life as we know it has been transformed, but the race to match Margaret Court’s Grand Slam record will not wilt in the face of a virus.

The old normal never felt so good, right?

Those who speak of the US Open being an illegitimate tournament that will crown an

undeserving winner have probably never tried to win a Grand Slam tennis tournament during a deadly global pandemic.

Let’s be honest: any player with the courage to even show up for this year’s North American hardcourt swing, let alone capture a major title, deserves accolades—not an asterisk. That player deserves the trophy, the $3 million champion’s check, and the glory that comes with being the one that in some however minute way, helped lift legions of tennis fans out of their Groundhog Day reality and into the place where people can dream again.

Williams has been a dream come true for the sport in so many ways. The woman whose tennis dreams were formed on the public park courts of Compton, California is connected to iconic American champions who sprouted from our public parks Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Pancho Gonzales, Althea Gibson, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors and Chrissie Evert and aims to make history at her home Slam staged in a public park.

Serena’s commitment and staying power resonates with women and men of all shapes, sizes, creeds and colors.

And now, in the twilight of her career, here comes a chance for Serena to be bigger than tennis, to be bigger than sport, to be bigger even than the reputation that precedes her. In a time of struggle and strife, Williams has the chance to take the wheel and steer the ship through turbulence.

Angry America sure could use a feel-good story this summer. If there was ever a time where the country needed to forget about itself and get lost in a dream, this is that time.

Twenty-one years after she won her first US Open title and six years since she last ruled Flushing Meadows, Serena is back for the major mark.

It’s that fire and that fight, that courage to stand up to anything and everything all at once, the gravity of her intensity that makes Serena special.

Ultimately, those qualities will define Serena Williams and sends shivers down the spine of those recognizing her true greatness, whether she wins or loses in New York this year. More than the outcome Serena’s career is about the journey, rising up in the face of challenges, and delivering on a promise to never relent.