Superman has lost a fight. So has Wonder Woman. And Iron Man.
On Saturday, Serena Williams, the closest thing America has to a superhero, suffered a staggering defeat to Simona Halep, in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, keeping Williams from winning her 24th title.
Need proof that Williams is a superhero? How about she hardly played any tennis this year and still dominated Wimbledon right up until the final game. And that’s not taking anything away from Halep who played an amazing match, and even admitted after the game that this was the best tennis she played in her life. Before Saturday, the 27-year-old from Romania had been 0-3 against Williams in majors.
Had Williams been able to pull off a Wimbledon victory it would have tied “Margaret Court’s record for the most overall Grand Slam singles titles,” ESPN reports.
Today just wasn’t Williams day as she seemed to be playing from behind from the start and had her first serve broken in the first game. Halep committed only three unforced errors the entire match compared to 25 from Williams.
ESPN notes that this is only Halep’s second major championship having won the 2018 French Open.
And Serena couldn’t be happier for her, even in defeat.
DISCUSSION
I know Serena is the greatest women’s tennis player ever and all, and has shown that she can still play at a high level far longer than most other tennis players, let’s not forget a few things.
Serena is 37 years old. I don’t care how great you are, time will start to take its toll. Not just in one match, but over the course of a tournament, it is harder to stay sharp and great over the course of two straight weeks.
Serena has also been playing at a high level of competitive tennis for over 25 years. That also is going to take a toll on the body.
I’m not saying she’s washed up (I believe she’s been in all three grand slam finals this year), I’m just saying I think she’s peaked and we should start appreciating that we can watch her now, for when she does retire, you’ll want to be able to say you saw the greatest play when she was still great.