I have a date with Serena Williams. That's the good news. The bad news is that it's in 10 years, by which time I might be coyote bait. So someone prepare to act as my stand-in. It all started in the press conference after Serena's stunning 6-3, 6-2 win over Vera Zvonareva in the ladies' singles championship match here at Wimbledon (see match report, in the next post down).
At one point in that interview, someone asked Serena if she had a career timetable; did she always think she'd still be playing tennis at 28?
She replied, "Who knows? I'm always trying to stay healthy and do the best I can. I never think about how long I'm going to play."
I couldn't help but blurt out, "Is there a chance you'll still be playing at 38?"
"If I am," she replied, "I want you to personally take me off and escort me off the court. There's no way I need to be out here at 38."
But let's remember that very, very few of the great players ever quit the game as early as they once thought they would. Not by choice. Tennis is in a dominant champion's blood. Heck, it's in even a journeyman's blood, although probably for more practical reasons. So I thought this might be a good subject to return to when a handful of us met with Serena later in the day, in a small-group round table.
It was an informal, friendly session, and Serena was at her best, as she often is in those smaller environments. She talked about how much she envied the other children, growing up, when on hot summer days they would all be chasing the ice cream truck, or swimming, while Venus and Serena endured grueling two-a-day training sessions on the burning asphalt courts.
"When you're young," she said, softly, "You don't think about that kind of thing. Yeah. I remember, dad would go next door to little liquor store and get us whatever new sports drink they had. . . you have all those memories, all that hard work, and when it pays off, those are the moments you really remember."
Serena cited some of those memories at Wimbledon this week. When we asked how she'd developed that serve, the greatest ever in the women's game, the one that she rode to the title—her 13th major—today, she laughed and averred that when her father Richard was watching, she and Venus would hit serves. Then when his back was turned, they would just talk and giggle the way little girls do, about little things.
They come a long, long way, all of these youngsters. And Venus and Serena further than most. Which is why it seemed so puzzling when, as all players invariably do, either of the sisters seemed to stress the "other" things they do, when they sought to develop sides of themselves and interests that had nothing to do with that little optic yellow ball.
But in tennis, as Andre Agassi can tell you, you can always go home again. Hateful and embittering and demanding and harsh and debilitating as the game can often seem, it's always there, waiting for you to give it a go.
Serena seems to be discovering that, and it's cause for smiling. She put it this way: "It is difficult. i used to not want to have much to do with it. But the older I get, I realize I would like to be involved, in some sort of way. Maybe I'll do a 'fashion special,' go behind the scenes. Do something that's never been done before. That would be cool."
So, are we witnessing a reconciliation of the kind we saw with Agassi? Well let's not get carried away, but she's off to a good start, what with her charitable activities in Africa, her crossover appeal (is there a more potent, potential role model for young girls, and most particularly African-American girls, than either Williams sister?) and continuing ability to plaster 125 mph aces all over the court, and otherwise play the kind of tennis that can make you forget the familiar, sex-based DMZ that exists between the tours. I think Serena is beginning to see the convergence of different tributaries in her life.
"This (tennis) is what I do," she said. "This is definitely my core, the breadmaker. I don't want to lose sight of that. I want to continue doing it."
!102607655Does that mean that she enjoys tennis more now than she did during that recent period of discontent? "No," she answered, honestly. "I don't think I can ever like tennis more than that first two years on the tour. Everything was new. You see all the people you grew up watching. You might even end up playing a few of them (in her case, Steffi Graf, who Serena admired and not only played but defeated). That atmosphere, it's an amazing feeling and nothing can match that."
Another reporter rekindled the question from the original presser. Where do you see yourself in 20 years? In a nice house in some suburb, with five kids running around?
"At the rate I'm going, probably not," she replied, in one of those signature Serena moments. "I won't be able to live. . . I'll probably still be living with Venus in 10 years. Yeah, live together with some dogs. I can't quite picture it (the suburbs, the kids). I would love. . . my dream was always to have a ton of dogs, live with them. I've proven myself difficult to live with."
Not for us, you haven't. It's been mostly good, and still getting better all the time.
The little gathering ended on that note, and as everyone switched off his tape recorder and rose to go, Serena said to me, "Remember, we have a date in 10 years."
I laughed.
"I mean it," she said, "You be there, with all the equipment, ready to take me off."
"I'll have a walker, or a wheel chair ready for you. I'll be standing by."
"Alright. Just remember."
Like I could forget. I'm going going on eBay, tonight. And marking my calendar.