Guardian

AS she sat beside her older sister, Venus, occasionally nodding to the hard-hitting beat of D’Banj’s Oliver Twist, Serena Williams acknowledged cheers from her numerous fans, who had come from across Nigeria, and neighbouring countries to watch their idol live at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club.

While she took in the ‘efforts’ of the special guests, who were falling over themselves to corner her attention, the MC of the day, the Late Ayo Ositelu, was busy reeling out the achievements of the William sisters.

Serena, the younger Williams was, perhaps, also thinking of ways to reclaim the zenith of women tennis from ‘usurpers,’ including Caroline Wosniaki, Victoria Azarenka and the on and off Maria Sharapova.

Though just off her season-ending victory at the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Championship, Serena was already thinking of new conquests, including holding on to the number one slot, which she just regained, and setting new milestones in the game that has made her a “monster” to some and a god to many.

Listening to Deacon Ositelu reel out her conquests, some of which she had even forgotten, Serena told some journalists near the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club’s bar that she had never felt so at home and welcome as she was that afternoon.

“We are excited to be in Nigeria. My first time was a brief stopover when I travelled to an African country a few years back. It was disappointing that I could not interact with Nigerians back then, that’s why I am going to cherish every minute I have to spend here now.

“It also makes me crazy to know that we have many fans in Nigeria, in fact, I receive thousands of messages everyday on Twitter from Nigerians, who were asking if I would come here. Well here I am and it will be an honour to play against my sister for Nigerians and we will give you a good show… I hope that our presence and what we do would help to change Nigerian tennis. I hope that these players will be inspired to become the best,” she said.

Serena has come a long way from that starry-eyed girl taken to a tennis club while she was barely out of her diapers by her father in the 1980s.

From learning how to handle the racquet at Vic Braden’s club in California, Serena is now the proud holder of 51 trophies and the oldest ever world number one.

Penultimate week, she beat Sharapova in the final of the Madrid Open to retain her number one ranking and collect her 50th career title. She added the 51st crown last week at the Italian Open, and with the French Open here with us, the smart money is that she would make it her 52nd title at the Roland Garros.

She won her first and only French Open title 11 years ago, but such is her current dominance, coupled with recent clay court successes, that it is hard to see beyond the powerhouse American. But Serena is in France with a touch of caution because she has almost always faltered when it mattered most at Roland Garros.

Based on form, she has no serious opposition in the competition… she is world number one, unbeaten in 24 matches and has won four consecutive tournaments. But she was in spectacular form last year when she was booted out of the competition in the first round.

Whatever happens at the French Open this year, nothing would subtract from Serena’s new status as the undisputed best woman player ever.

Born Serena Jameka Williams on September 26, 1981, she has been the world number one in singles on six separate occasions since she first held the title on July 8, 2002.

She regained it for the sixth time on February 18, 2013, becoming the oldest world number one player in WTA’s history. And so has the money been coming in. She is the only female player to have won over $40 million in prize money.

Williams, who calls herself “hardest working woman in tennis, is the only player to have achieved a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles, and is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

She is the most recent player, male or female, to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously and only the fifth woman ever to do so. Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in women’s singles and three in women’s doubles.

After beating Sharapova to win her 50th title at the Madrid Open two weeks, ago, Serena walked in for her news conference wearing a T-shirt proclaiming her the “Bestest Ever.” But analysts says she will not be the ‘Bestest Ever’ until she adds at least one more French Open title to a Hall of Fame list of accomplishments.

While she has won all three clay court tournaments, she has played in 2013, including her latest straight-set triumph over number two-ranked Azarenka in the Italian Open final last week, the next test could be the toughest.

Battling an 11-year wait could be a psychological war too tough for the great Williams, especially since she has gone no further than the quarterfinals since 2003. Last year, she lost in the first round to an unseeded and 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano. That was her first loss in the first round of a Grand Slam in her career.

But she rose from the ashes of that defeat to win the Wimbledon, the Olympic gold medal, the U.S. Open and the Masters.

“Every time I play, I really relish it more,” Williams told reporters after the Madrid title. “I feel like, ‘Honestly, Serena, when are you going to get tired?’ I don’t know.”

At 31, Serena has defied all the stereotypes about top level tennis belonging to players between 18 and 26.

ESPN’s tennis analyst and former perennial top-10 player, Pam Shriver, said of Serena’s chances in this French Open: “Usually the pattern with Serena is that if she sets her mind on revenge or reclaiming something; she has been fueled and angered by that loss. “I think she loved that record of having never lost a first-round match in a major before (last year’s French) and the way she lost that match.

“It is her weakest major. Is it possible for her to be upset two years in a row on this surface? Of course. But all signs point toward her getting even.”

She started her campaign at the French Open yesterday with a commanding display, reeling off the first nine games against Georgia’s Tatishvili, allowing her opponent only seven points in the first set.  She clinched the tie with a 6-0 6-1 victory in 51 minutes.

Serena is still a long way from matching the all-time leaders in Grand Slam titles (she has 15, while Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert have 18 and Margaret Court tops the list at 24); match win streak (she is currently riding a career-best 24 in a row, while Navratilova holds the record at 74) and career singles titles (Navratilova has 167 to Williams’ 51).

But she is two titles away from equaling Monica Seles, who is ninth on the all-time list, and Shriver said winning her second French title would be nice for Williams, but is not mandatory in order to take her place among the all-time greats. Adding to the French Open to her collection of titles this year would be a great preparation for her favourite surface…the Wimbledon.