Serena Williams..
I love Serena Williams, so what?
Written By: Tan Jun Xun
Serena Williams battled a rib injury, mastered a hot opponent and claimed her second Australian Open women’s singles title with a 2-6 6-3 6-0 scoreline on 29/01/05. Showing incredible grit, she remarked about a critical point in the second set: ‘I don't care if my arm falls off, I'm not losing this game'. She went on to win that set and crushed Lindsay Davenport in the third set.
But Serena Williams has never been a popular champion. Blame it on her (bad) dress sense, bulging muscles, brassy American voice or her fellow tennis playing sister, Venus. Another reason why people don’t like her is seldom acknowledged: her black skin colour.
Yes, at first glance, Serena Williams does little to endear herself to the neutral spectator. She towers above the other girls, wears outlandish outfits and seems to have such an unfair physical advantage over the other girls that neutrals instinctively root for her underdog opponent. I understand this but wish to take issue with the sneaky attitudes about racism and skin colour (“colourism”)
I remember at this time last year when the Williams sisters were on a roll and the Belgian duo of Kim Clisjters and Justine Henin looked most likely to stop their advance to a grand slam crown. ESPN/Starsports ran a distasteful trailer about whether the “Belgian brigade could stop the forces of darkness”. The trailer was pulled after a while and the blatant colourism so obvious that it was actually funny but how on earth did it ended up on air?
Just think, how many times have we heard similar jokes among our friends as we were watching Serena Williams play? There is no obvious discrimination against her but I am pretty sure that Serena Williams has to put up with insensitive comments from observers of the game. There can be an argument made about how difficult it is to fight against sentiments that people are only willing to display in private but actually harbour.
Hearing “colourist” comments like this, I feel rather sad. I used to have the urge to tell my friends off. But it is a waste of effort. People don’t like being told they are behaving like idiots and say I sound “higher than thou”. I also don’t exactly see myself as some racial relations ambassador as well. So I don’t laugh at those jokes and my friends know where I stand regarding this issue.
Why am I a fan of Serena Williams? Firstly, she’s a pretty darn good tennis player. I admire her personality and her fearlessness in displaying it. So what if she is flamboyant by nature and doesn’t blend into the background? Life would be so boring if everyone wore and did the same things. She adds a lot of spice into a rather dour tennis circuit obsessed with cute Russian players. Plus, I really admire her mental toughness and poise to succeed in an environment where she is the minority and you feel that everyone is willing her to fail.
There has long been a “Kick racism out of football” campaign featuring prominent black footballers like Thierry Henry and Ashley Cole. Granted that black tennis players are really tiny minority on the tennis circuit (off-hand I can only name the Williams sisters and American James Blake) but truly respecting those players is a step towards respecting ourselves as well.
_______________________________________________________________________
The above is written by a friend who's pissed off with racists.
My views? Serena Williams had never been my favourite player, especially after since she kept depriving my beloved Swiss Miss of Grand Slams. Blame it on something called jealousy. I didn't like her powerful ground strokes either, especially her backhand. She's always scooping the ball up from the bottom. In my opinion, Henin's backhand is still the most beautiful to watch. Anyway, as the years went by, the power game in ladies' tennis became prevalent. Hingis simply couldn't keep up with the power of the Williams' sisters and the Russians. Serena went on to win the Serena Slam(beating her sister Venus in all the finals) while Hingis was on the decline and sidelined with injury.
I wasn't really interested in ladies' tennis when my Swiss Miss was not in action. The Russian babes rekindled my interest. I watched most of the ladies' matches for this year's Australian Open. I was actually rooting for Maria Sharapova. But when I watched the match between Sharapova and Serena, I began to switch sides. Serena is a tough competitor who only starts playing well when she seems down and out. She keeps fighting despite being service breaks and match points down. That's what makes the game interesting isn't it? Although her tennis strokes are not as pretty as Henin and others (ok, she does have an asset: her first serve), her mental attitude ought to be commended. How many players possess such great determination?
Anyway, the below question was posed to my idol, Roger Federer:
I was wondering who your favourite players in women’s tennis are?
It used to be Martina Hingis, and now Serena.
Written By: Tan Jun Xun
Serena Williams battled a rib injury, mastered a hot opponent and claimed her second Australian Open women’s singles title with a 2-6 6-3 6-0 scoreline on 29/01/05. Showing incredible grit, she remarked about a critical point in the second set: ‘I don't care if my arm falls off, I'm not losing this game'. She went on to win that set and crushed Lindsay Davenport in the third set.
But Serena Williams has never been a popular champion. Blame it on her (bad) dress sense, bulging muscles, brassy American voice or her fellow tennis playing sister, Venus. Another reason why people don’t like her is seldom acknowledged: her black skin colour.
Yes, at first glance, Serena Williams does little to endear herself to the neutral spectator. She towers above the other girls, wears outlandish outfits and seems to have such an unfair physical advantage over the other girls that neutrals instinctively root for her underdog opponent. I understand this but wish to take issue with the sneaky attitudes about racism and skin colour (“colourism”)
I remember at this time last year when the Williams sisters were on a roll and the Belgian duo of Kim Clisjters and Justine Henin looked most likely to stop their advance to a grand slam crown. ESPN/Starsports ran a distasteful trailer about whether the “Belgian brigade could stop the forces of darkness”. The trailer was pulled after a while and the blatant colourism so obvious that it was actually funny but how on earth did it ended up on air?
Just think, how many times have we heard similar jokes among our friends as we were watching Serena Williams play? There is no obvious discrimination against her but I am pretty sure that Serena Williams has to put up with insensitive comments from observers of the game. There can be an argument made about how difficult it is to fight against sentiments that people are only willing to display in private but actually harbour.
Hearing “colourist” comments like this, I feel rather sad. I used to have the urge to tell my friends off. But it is a waste of effort. People don’t like being told they are behaving like idiots and say I sound “higher than thou”. I also don’t exactly see myself as some racial relations ambassador as well. So I don’t laugh at those jokes and my friends know where I stand regarding this issue.
Why am I a fan of Serena Williams? Firstly, she’s a pretty darn good tennis player. I admire her personality and her fearlessness in displaying it. So what if she is flamboyant by nature and doesn’t blend into the background? Life would be so boring if everyone wore and did the same things. She adds a lot of spice into a rather dour tennis circuit obsessed with cute Russian players. Plus, I really admire her mental toughness and poise to succeed in an environment where she is the minority and you feel that everyone is willing her to fail.
There has long been a “Kick racism out of football” campaign featuring prominent black footballers like Thierry Henry and Ashley Cole. Granted that black tennis players are really tiny minority on the tennis circuit (off-hand I can only name the Williams sisters and American James Blake) but truly respecting those players is a step towards respecting ourselves as well.
_______________________________________________________________________
The above is written by a friend who's pissed off with racists.
My views? Serena Williams had never been my favourite player, especially after since she kept depriving my beloved Swiss Miss of Grand Slams. Blame it on something called jealousy. I didn't like her powerful ground strokes either, especially her backhand. She's always scooping the ball up from the bottom. In my opinion, Henin's backhand is still the most beautiful to watch. Anyway, as the years went by, the power game in ladies' tennis became prevalent. Hingis simply couldn't keep up with the power of the Williams' sisters and the Russians. Serena went on to win the Serena Slam(beating her sister Venus in all the finals) while Hingis was on the decline and sidelined with injury.
I wasn't really interested in ladies' tennis when my Swiss Miss was not in action. The Russian babes rekindled my interest. I watched most of the ladies' matches for this year's Australian Open. I was actually rooting for Maria Sharapova. But when I watched the match between Sharapova and Serena, I began to switch sides. Serena is a tough competitor who only starts playing well when she seems down and out. She keeps fighting despite being service breaks and match points down. That's what makes the game interesting isn't it? Although her tennis strokes are not as pretty as Henin and others (ok, she does have an asset: her first serve), her mental attitude ought to be commended. How many players possess such great determination?
Anyway, the below question was posed to my idol, Roger Federer:
I was wondering who your favourite players in women’s tennis are?
It used to be Martina Hingis, and now Serena.
Well, since even my Rog highly respects Serena, Serena can now be promoted to my 'favourite female player' list. Despite that, no one can replace my beloved retired Swiss Miss, Martina Hingis.
posted by The Aspiring Chef @ 11:29 PM
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