The Body & Mind

Serena Williams is an inspiration. Who thought we would say that just four months removed from her US Open tirade last September. But watching her labour against Na Li on Thursday, screaming with gut wrenching howls that emanated from the core of her being, simply put, I was inspired; and after a 13 year professional career, I became a fan.

A day after watching Novak Djokovic once again succumb to his physical limitations, it was nothing less than inspiring watching Serena Williams conquer hers. And, while my mind says there is no way she can win a match against the supremely fit and suddenly fresh Justine Henin on Saturday, my heart says she will anyway. Her mind will not let her body, or Justine for that matter, keep her from the prize.

We at theNETcourt predicted Serena as the eventual champion and we are sticking with that prediction. We always learn so much more about a champion when they almost lose. Serena cruised through the first four rounds at this year’s Aussie open with such efficiency, not dropping a single service game along the way. But her easy passage taught us nothing about her desire or her mind.

The last two matches have taught us everything, and though Serena has always been able to recover from near defeat, perhaps better than any player in history, we have never seen Serena, at times, so unraveled, so winded, so imposed upon and still so resilient, so able to recover and find a way. She has looked as good as she ever was and then worse than she’s ever been. Her nerves have wreaked havoc with shot selection, her movement, and her supreme confidence. When her nerve has held up her body has not, the knees have looked suspect, the fitness has been questioned; but in each case, at the eleventh hour Serena answers the questions and erases the doubt. What we have seen from her this fortnight has been truly engaging, sometimes perplexing, sometimes impossible, always entertaining; an epic ode to the body and the mind of Serena Williams.