The tennis blogosphere is buzzing about Chris Evert's open letter to Serena Williams as Publisher in the lastest (May) issue of Tennis magazine. Martina Navratilova was asked about it and made some concurring comments to the Miami Herald during the NASDAQ-100 Open. The two tennis greats who both won eighteen major singles championships each (Navratilova: 3 Australian, 2 French, 9 Wimbledon, 4 U.S.; Evert: 2 Australian, 7 French, 3 Wimbledon, 6 U.S.), rarely agree(d) on anything but they both are trying to draw the attention of both Williams sisters to think about their place in tennis history. Serena has seven major singles titles at age 24 (2 Australian,1 French, 2 Wimbledon, 2 U.S.) and Venus has five major singles titles at age 25 (3 Wimbledon, 2 U.S.). Monica Seles has nine (4 Australian, 3 French, 2 U.S.), Steffi Graf has twenty-two (second all-time: 4 Australia, 6 French, 7 Wimbledon, 5 U.S.), Martina Hingis has five (3 Australian, 1 Wimbledon, 1 U.S.), Justine Henin-Hardenne has four (1 Australian, 2 French, 1 U.S.), Lindsay Davenport has three (1 Australian, 1 Wimbledon, 1 U.S.) , Jennifer Capriiati has three (2 Australian, 1 French) and Mary Pierce has two (1 Australian, 1 French).
Evert and Navratilova's point is that Serena is tied for 10th and Venus is tied for 15th on the all-time Grand Slam Singles lists and they are currently reaching their theoretical physical peaks. They argue that there's no reason if Serena was in top physical shape that she wouldn't vault to the #5 position with Billie Jean King's twelve (1 Australian, 1 French, 6 Wimbledon, 4 U.S.) within a few years.
MadProfessah agrees with Evert and Navratilova, although I do think that they are assuming that Serena and Venus should have the same life priorities as Evert and Navratilova. Just because being the Best in the World at a sport was incredibly important and motivating to Evert and Navratilova (and to Venus and Serena, clearly, at one time) doesn't necessaily mean it will always be true. Also, Evert and Navratilova may be under-estimating the turmoil in the Williamses life since completing the Serena slam over Venus in four consecutive Grand Slam finals between 2002 to 2003. One of her sisters was brutally shot to death, her parents officially divorced and she sustained serious injuries which required painful surgeries and extensive rehabilitation time. But even so, MadProfessah agrees that having the talent that they have and not maximizing it is distressing for many of their supporters and tennis fans in general.
What do you think?
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