Does being such a good player give Serena Williams licence to be so bad in her behaviour after winning or losing matches?
On Tuesday, after a wildly-fluctuating 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4 victory over the 100th-ranked player in the world, Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, Williams launched into her usual litany about how pitifully she performed, beginning with, “I played horrendous.” She then threw in the adjective “horrible” and tied it all together with, “I just played junior tennis or even worse.”
Williams had lost her three previous matches on clay this spring, including to Zakopalova in Marbella, Spain, early last month. That lack of success, more than any rant about poor form, was the best explanation for the way she played.
“I was a little nervous because I hadn’t won a match on clay all year,” she said. “I was just desperate for a win. It pretty much showed in my game.”
Williams’s inability or unwillingness to give credit to her opponents extends to her own sister. After Venus defeated her 7-5, 6-4 in last summer’s Wimbledon final, Serena was all about herself, declaring, “I did not play well, that’s all.”
On Tuesday, in the cozy confines of the 10,000-seat Court Suzanne Lenglen, she dominated the first set and had the match under control leading 5-3 in the second.
She held five match points in that game but the spunky Zakopalova, just 5-foot-5, refused to give in and won the game, as well as the hearts of the French crowd. On the fourth match point, there was a long, rollicking rally with Williams screaming and squealing more frantically with every exchange. She was providing an increasingly emotional, aural play-by-play of her inner anguish. The passionate patrons on Suzanne Lenglen began to laugh more and more as the point went on.
Finally, Williams hit a forehand long and they roared their support of the over-matched Zakopalova.
Later, two different French spectators would use the analogy of David and Goliath to explain why the Czech had become the crowd’s chou chou (darling).
About the crowd’s lack of support, Williams declared, “They don’t really pull for me a lot here.”
The French are fickle fans, and they also like to participate in the proceedings. Compare the boisterous accompaniment to Williams’s play to the low-decibel, efficiency of the Zakopolova game, and it was a given who would be their favourite.
Williams feeds off a constant beating up of herself on the court to produce tennis that is arguably the best ever by a woman in any generation. She reaches into a reserve of competitive drive that makes her, as a fighter, the equal of the best in women’s tennis history, Monica Seles and Chris Evert among them.
But there is a price to pay for expressing it in such a bellicose, visceral manner on court – and that is the support of the crowd.
“I think I played a really good match today,” Zakopalova said. She went on to make a commendably reasoned assessment. “Serena will be playing better and better each round, so it was the best chance to play with her, or beat her.”
About the crowd support that she earned with her honest effort, she said, “The public was absolutely fantastic. I’ve never played behind a crowd like this. It was one of the best experiences of my life.”
In the final game of Tuesday’s match, with a shaky-looking Williams having lost the first point, a supporter in her camp behind the court shouted, “Got to be aggressive Serena – take it.” She responded like a true champion, blasting a Zakopalova second serve for a winner. She did not lose another point.
That is just how good she is but, for such a supremely gifted player, more should be expected, an element of noblesse oblige regarding her opponents.
When it comes to the Williams that tennis fans have been exposed to over the years, it is easily understood why there are such entrenched feelings, for and against her.
