!Sw For the moment, I'm unable to embed You Tube videos. To watch the two clips from the 1999 women's final in Indian Wells that I talk about below, go here, and then here
I mentioned in my Key Biscayne preview that Serena Williams owns that tournament. But it wasn't the place where she first signaled her imminent ascent to the top of the sport. That came, ironically, in the 1999 final in Indian Wells, a tournament that the Williamses would only enter two more times. As the decade-old clips above prove—can it be that long ago?—a 17-year-old Serena put the world on notice with a fierce three-set win over all-time great Steffi Graf.
The beads have gone and her muscles aren’t quite as cut as they are here—how could they be?—but Serena’s game hasn’t changed much, has it? I don’t remember this match; its quality, at least in the two late-match videos I’ve linked to above (you can find a lot more of it on You Tube), is lower than it was in Graf’s win over Venus at Wimbledon that year. Even a decade later, though, you can feel the heat and tension as these two ultra-competitors slash at each other.
—The first sound you hear in the second clip is Serena’s grunt. It’s appropriate. While Monica Seles had grunted as loudly 10 years before this, it was the Williamses who made it a permanent part of the sport.
—Cliff Drysdale says that Graf hasn’t won a Slam since the 1996 U.S. Open. No wonder she was so happy when she beat Martina Hingis in Paris two months after this match. I hadn’t realized the drought had lasted that long.
—The Williamses were well-established by 1999—Venus had reached a major final, at Flushing Meadows, as early as ’97—but I can remember the shock among tennis fans that they could take down Steffi Graf—the Steffi Graf, holder of 21 major titles at that point.
—Pam Shriver asks Mary Joe Fernandez (she’s been around that long as well?) who the crowd is rooting for. Shriver then says that in most countries the audience would strongly support their own player, but in Indian Wells the fans may be on Graf’s side. She thinks this is because the tennis audience always warms to its champions late in their careers. And she’s right. But I wonder if there is some ambivalence toward the Williams sisters that has never completely disappeared. Or is it an early sign of distaste from the people of Indian Wells, who would rain boos down on Serena and her sister two years later?
It will be interesting, as Venus and Serena become the grand old veterans of the women’s game, whether they also become its sentimental favorites. A lot may depend on whether they ever stop dominating, or whether they quit while they’re on top.
—Was Serena better at 17? I’m sort of thinking she was. She was slightly more consistent, or at least less prone to wild frame shots. And she wasn’t as incredulous and annoyed at herself after her misses. She was Slamless, hungry, and focused on getting what she wanted. None of it was old hat yet. Maybe her forehand is a more reliable weapon now? Aside from that, she had it all from the beginning.
—You can see Serena, when a ball lands in the middle of the court, running around her forehand to hit backhands. It was her attacking shot at that point, and a serious upgrade from Graf’s slice. Like the return, the Williamses, after Seles and Capriati, helped usher in the age of power from both wings. There was no reason for a young girl to try out a one-hander once she’d seen Venus and Serena do this kind of damage with both hands. Graf's inside-out forehand had met its match. Will the Williamses ever meet theirs? If so, what could it possibly be?
—Not only could Serena beat Graf, she could do it while standing inside the baseline to receive her serve. Besides the grunt, one major new element that the sisters brought to the sport was the ability to dictate off the return. Serena shows how offensive she could be with that shot in the final game. This ability and mindset has spread around the women’s tour and made holding serve that much more difficult, especially with matches on the line. This is often chalked up to a lack of nerve, and serve, from the women today, but you have to factor in their improved returns as well.
—What’s remarkable in the last couple of games is how Serena takes Graf out of her game. She stands at the baseline, owns the center of the court, and doesn’t let a 21-time Slam winner hit her shots. Even at 17, the match is on her racquet. And while she gets a little tight at times, there’s no sense that she has any fear about finishing off a legend of the sport. You might even say that Graf was afraid to beat Serena—the American came back from 4-2 down in the third to win. We should have known, whatever her dad might have said, that she’d be around for a while.
Have a good weekend.