After all of the many tributes to Serena Williams were done, the celebratory words and the video montages, the standing ovations and the shouts of her name, it seemed appropriate that she herself would provide the defining look at her legacy. ()
So the last question at the news conference after her last match of the U.S. Open 바카라 and, it seems clear, of her career 바카라 offered Williams the chance to say how she'd most like to be remembered.
바카라I feel like I really brought something, and bring something, to tennis. The different looks. The fist pumps. The just crazy intensity. ... Passion,' I think, is a really good word. Just continuing through ups and downs,바카라 she responded Friday night.
바카라I could go on and on. But I just honestly am so grateful that I had this moment 바카라 and that I'm Serena.바카라
That captures so much about her so well.
And to think: Williams, who turns 41 this month, did not even mention anything about being an elite athlete or any of the statistics that help define what she did with a racket in her hand.
The 23 championships at the Grand Slam tournaments that have come to define success in her sport. Another 50 singles titles elsewhere. The 14 majors in doubles with her sister, Venus. The 319 weeks at No. 1. The four Olympic gold medals.
So, sure, it's impossible to assess Williams without considering her place in the pantheon of superstars, as worthy as anyone 바카라 woman or man, this generation or any other, this sport or any other 바카라 of the honorific 바카라Greatest of All Time바카라 (one clever spectator at Williams' 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1 loss to Ajla Tomljanovic held up a poster with, simply, a drawing of a goat).
바카라She is an all-time great. Obviously, that's an understatement,바카라 said Martina Navratilova, an 18-time major winner who certainly is part of that whole conversation.
But Williams is also about a lot more than that.
No Black woman had won a Slam title since Althea Gibson in the 1950s until Williams came along and collected her first at the 1999 U.S. Open at age 17. Over the more than two decades since, Williams and Venus, who earned seven major singles trophies of her own, get credit for inspiring Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka and countless of others to play tennis, yes, but also for pushing plenty of others to change their views about what can be done and what can't.
바카라She embodies that no dream is too big,바카라 Tomljanovic said. 바카라You can do anything if you believe in yourself, you love what you do and you have an incredible support system around you.바카라
There's more.
She won a Grand Slam title while pregnant, went through scary health complications after giving birth to her daughter, Olympia, in 2017, and would return to the tour and reach four more major finals.
She has a venture capital firm that raised more than $100 million.
바카라Everyone looks at her and tries to be like Serena,바카라 said Caroline Garcia, a Frenchwoman seeded 17th and into the fourth round at the U.S. Open. 바카라And I'm sure that's going to be for years to come.바카라
Williams wore what she wanted on a tennis court. She reacted how she wanted, during and away from her matches. She said what she wanted, sometimes addressing social issues, sometimes not, but there always was a sense that she was the one who decided.
There were those who criticized her, of course. Those who wondered whether she was doing things the right way. Just as there were those who thought it was a mistake for her father, Richard, to keep his young daughters away from the junior tennis circuit.
Um, seems as if that worked out, huh?
바카라I will definitely (be) missing her on the courts,바카라 Tomljanovic said, surely echoing the thoughts of many. 바카라It will not be the same.바카라
No, tennis most definitely will not be the same without Williams. Not even close.
That's OK, though. It's time, as Williams famously wrote, for her to be 바카라evolving바카라 away from her days as a player. It's time for her to devote extra energy to being a mom and a businesswomen and whatever else life brings her way.
As Williams observed after hitting one last shot: 바카라I have such a bright future ahead of me.바카라
