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Serena Slam' Now it's the Serena Slump
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-06 06:56
HONG KONG: Not so long ago, sports fans were talking up the 'Serena Slam',
when the younger Williams sister became only the fifth woman to hold all four
Grand Slam titles at once.
Serena Williams
hits a ball during Champions Challenge 2006 against Dementieva of Russia
in Hong Kong. [Reuters]
| Now it is more like the Serena Slump.
Williams' first ever defeat to Elena Dementieva at the Champions Challenge
invitational here reinforced fears about her conditioning and motivation just
two weeks before her Australian Open defence.
Despite a three-month break, the former world No 1 looked sluggish and out of
sorts on Wednesday, taking just four games off the Russian defending champion
before capitulating in less than an hour.
Williams, who has been plagued with left knee and ankle problems over the
past two seasons, has not won a match since September 2, when she beat Italy's
Francesca Schiavone in the third round of the US Open.
Three weeks later she crashed to the worst defeat of her career, when as
defending champion she was bundled out of the China Open by unheralded Sun
Tiantian in the first round.
Questions have been raised over the commitment of the 24-year-old Williams,
who has won seven Grand Slams, amassed US$16 million in prize money and aspires
to an acting career.
Just a few seasons ago she was practically unbeatable, amassing five Grand
Slams in 2002 and 2003. But her Australian Open victory was the lone highpoint
of a 2005 marked by injuries and poor form.
World No 1 Lindsay Davenport, who looked razor-sharp as she opened her 2006
campaign with a straight-sets demolition of Nicole Vaidisova, cautioned that
tennis should always come first.
"First and foremost we are tennis players. With that you have to prioritize:
tennis is one and everything else comes after that, and it's really a good
lesson in how to balance your time and schedule," she said.
The 29-year-old veteran said every player had a different
strategy to coping with their marketing workload.
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