What THEY Said About Serena

by Ahmed Sule, CFA suleaos@gmail.com Monday, 12 September 2011

They Said
At the beginning of Serenas career THEY SAID Serena will only amount to a footnote in the career of Venus Williams In 2001 THEY SAID "People have been afraid to criticize them (Venus and Serena) because they don't want to be called racist," -Martina Navratilova On August 2001 THEY SAID Being black only helps them (Venus and Serena). Many times they get sponsors because they are black - Martina Hingis. On 26 June 2005 THEY SAID The Lights Dim Again for Serena Williams - Christopher Clarey (New York Times) On 27 June 2005 THEY SAID Dark clouds hovered over the All England Club throughout Saturday but it was not until 9.07pm that the sky caved in on Serena Williams - Nick Harris In 2006 THEY SAID "I can't say that I'm getting on with them that well. Venus is respectful. It's a shame that Serena's priority seems to have been design clothes and act rather than play tennis. But I think she'll realize that she's never going to be the new Meryl Streep." - John McEnroe

In 2006 THEY SAID Ive been thinking about your career, and something is troubling me. I appreciate that becoming a well-rounded person is important to you, as youve made that desire very clear. Still, a question lingersdo you ever consider your place in history? - Chris Evert In 2006 THEY SAID Serena should be in her physical prime, but she is wasting time you cannot ever get backShe had the opportunity to be the greatest in history. Instead, she'll be a supernova who burst on the scene, and then she was gone.'' - Martina Navratilova On 02 March 2011 THEY SAID But injuries have been a constant, nagging companion for both Williams sisters of late, so much so that it's also reasonable to envision an entirely different scenario for Serena's final act. As in: What if there is no final act? What if we have seen the last of the career of the great Serena Williams? And if Serena is finished, can Venus be far behind? - Christine Brennan (USA Today) On 26 June 2011 THEY SAID "The shock waves rippled through Wimbledon. If not the end of an era, it was certainly the diminishing of an aura." - Mick Cleary On 27 June 2011 THEY SAID Williams era in women's tennis edges closer to end Greg Couch On 28 June 2011 THEY SAID "And, it was the end of an era yesterday, as Serena Williams also fell in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli" - Sports Girl blog

On 29 June 2011 THEY SAID ..on Monday, a cheer rose round the Centre Court on news that Serena Williams had been beaten next door on Court No 1. I do not think this represented racism simply dislike for the Williams sisters crushing, brutal style of play. - Max Hastings On 9 July 2011 THEY SAID When WTA released the current women rankings on Monday, former world number one, Serena Williams, dropped to 175 position in the world ,her lowest ever ranking since 1997 and most tennis enthusiast said its time for Serena to retire from the game. - Jonathan Isaiah (Leadership) ===========================================================

THEY CAN SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY, BUT EACH TIME THEY SAY, SERENA CONTINUES TO RESPOND WITH THREE WORDS THAT HAVE STOOD THE TEST OF TIME

LET THEM SAY