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cricket.pavilionStassa Edwards
6/06/15 1:17pm
I think you can make a solid case that Serena’s the best ever even if she doesn’t surpass Graf or Court. Graf arguably wouldn’t have reached 22 if her most serious rival hadn’t been stabbed by a complete psychopath. And eleven of Court’s 24 titles are Australian Open wins. It’s very admittedly impressive, but Court didn’t have a ton of competition at the Australian Open in the early 60s (she won seven in a row from 1960-1966). Many competitors didn’t travel to Australia then. It was a long and expensive trip. Plus, she’s a depressing homophobe.
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  Nina Lemonecricket.pavilion
  6/06/15 1:23pm
  And Court’s titles weren’t all in the open era. I fully agree with you.
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  JennaWcricket.pavilion
  6/06/15 1:28pm
  Steffi is the only one to achieve a golden slam and she did that during the most difficult (that is, full of peer competitors and idiotic family drama) part of her career, but I would say that Serena is at least equally the best, and considering how play has changed, she likely is the greatest ever in the same way Federer and Nadal are the greatest.
  
  If we could time travel everyone from their career/health peak moments and play a major tournament, just from conditioning, athleticism, and style shifts over time, the current and recent bests probably are the best ever.
  
  And I say this is a humongous and DIE HARD Steffi fan — but you’re right: her later wins were in part due to a lack of true peers. Serena keeps on going in spite of the usual issues of age, illness, injury, and competition. She’s amazeballs.
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MostlyKelp ( Now, you people get that oven, or die trying. You hear that, Stormy? DIE.)Stassa Edwards
6/06/15 1:54pm
I don’t know why she gets so much hate, she’s dominate and fun to watch, she deserves to dance a little bit I think.
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  llaalleellMostlyKelp ( Now, you people get that oven, or die trying. You hear that, Stormy? DIE.)
  6/06/15 2:34pm
  Serena doesn’t get nearly as much hate as she used to, but the answer is pretty much institutional racism in tennis and in the world. Although I like and respect Serena, she’s never been one of my endeared players because she’s kind of bratty and dramatic. But she’s been punished so severely for doing and being the same damn way as many other brash athletes—including other tennis players. It’s sinister and offensive. And in the grand scheme of things, frustrated outbursts on the court aside, she’s a pretty respectful and generous public figure. That she doesn’t have time for foolishness is something I’m down with.
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  Batista Thumbs UpMostlyKelp ( Now, you people get that oven, or die trying. You hear that, Stormy? DIE.)
  6/06/15 2:57pm
  She rubbed me the wrong way at times when she would refuse to acknowledge her opponent after losses and the incident where she threatened the judge at the U.S. Open, but she has seemed to humble it in terms of winning and losing like a champion in recent years; she’s had moments of classlessness and lack of general sportsmanship that could validate one not liking her personality but there’s no denying she’s a living legend in tennis.
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paultoesStassa Edwards
6/06/15 1:39pm
Smack it, smack it in the air!

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  Rooo sez BISH PLZpaultoes
  6/06/15 6:17pm
  Haters in comments
  
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Zyna-katStassa Edwards
6/06/15 2:34pm
I get the flu: can barely walk the distance from my bed to the bathroom.

Serena Williams gets the flu: Wins the French Open.
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  Rooo sez BISH PLZZyna-kat
  6/06/15 6:18pm
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Mhan00Stassa Edwards
6/06/15 4:50pm
Probably the greatest ever in women’s tennis, maybe the best ever in women’s sports period. A few more majors and she will absolutely cement that spot for sure. And to think, about 15 years ago, when Venus was killing it herself, I thought her dad was nuts for saying the younger sister Serena was even better. I didn't think it was possible. Damn, was I wrong.
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HaydenPlanetaryFlyStassa Edwards
6/06/15 7:25pm
Is Serena the best ever? I take into heavy consideration how Pam Shriver answered this question in a Q&A published to ESPNw today: When you put together her body of work in addition to the singles trophies alone (which are already incredicle), that includes Olympic Golds in both doubles and singles and Grand Slam championships for doubles. Perhaps without these things, Serena is still GOAT. But with them, she definitely is.

You could also add to this the intangibles, like her epic mental toughness (shown this whole French Open) and her RIDONKULOUS head-to-head record against peers. She has a winning record against all of her rivals, including the only five people who beat her five times: Hingis, Henin, Capriati, Venus, and Dementieva. Four of those five women are HoFers, and one (Dementieva) is already in the Russian HoF. (Also, just let that sink in. ONLY FIVE PEOPLE EVER have beaten her five times.)

You could add to those intangibles the even loftier ones, like what she’s done for women’s tennis, American tennis, African-American tennis, and so on. I don’t know for sure if things like that should be considered in GOAT talk, but why not?

Then you add the tangibles. Her serve is the best the women’s game has ever seen (she often aces men with it in mixed doubles) and is one of the best shots in tennis history, period. It’s up there with Federer’s forehand. Her power, speed, and tactics enable her at age 33 to beat very talented people who are 10 years younger.

I’m not 100% up to date, but there are only a handful of GOAT-like records she hasn’t beat. I think total weeks both consecutive and non- at #1 are the only ones left besides being third in Slam count behind Graf and Court.

tldr: It’s Serena’s world, and we’re just living in it.
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Tan Dog AficionadoStassa Edwards
6/06/15 1:43pm

GIF

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CharlieisaferalgodStassa Edwards
6/06/15 1:06pm
Good for her. The last update I caught was where she was warned by the umpire. I really thought she was going to lose.
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Dr. OpossumStassa Edwards
6/06/15 1:39pm
I actually love how hard a win this was for Serena. She came damn close to losing a number of times during this Open. But even a shaky Serena was still better than her opponents.
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picklesandbeetsStassa Edwards
6/06/15 7:11pm
Go Serena! It would be amazing to see her surpass Court. It’ll be a real loss when she’s not in the game anymore.
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