Monica Seles Stabbing Anniversary: Would the stabbing had made a difference to Serena’s Path to Greatness

Tennis – For the past year, Serena Williams has been the talk of women’s tennis as she racked up Grand Slam victory after Grand Slam victory and in the process inched her way to the record books. Last July, she completed the Serena Slam (holding all the four Slams at the same time) for the second time in her career and heading into the US Open, she was the overwhelming favourite to become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to win the calendar year Grand Slam and equal the German’s Open-Era record of 22 Grand Slam titles.

By the time she had taken to the semi-finals of the US Open after a hard-fought win over sister Venus in the previous round, only two Italian women stood between her and tennis immortality – both of them were ranked outside the top 20 and had a combined experience of playing only 1 Grand Slam semi-final prior to New York. But Roberta Vinci played the match of her life to oust Serena in three sets and end the American’s dream – which would have certainly bolstered her credentials as the Greatest of All Time. Since then whether she is playing or not, whether she is winning or losing, Serena continues to be the top talking point in women’s tennis. She did not play again after her US Open loss last year, she pulled out mid-way of the Hopman Cup, she reached the final of the Australian Open but her dream of Grand Slam no. 22 was crashed by Graf’s compatriot Angelique Kerber, she reached the final at Indian Wells and the last 16 at Miami. …

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