Major Goals: Serena looking to recapture her identity at Grand Slams

After suffering a 6-3,7-5 defeat against the dynamic Canadian Bianca Andreescu in the final of the US Open four months ago, Serena Williams was clearly not happy with either the outcome or the way she had played. It was her fourth consecutive loss in a major final across a two year span.

Serena said afterwards, “It’s inexcusable for me to play at that level. I could have just been more Serena today. I honestly don’t think Serena showed up. I have to get her to show up in Grand Slam finals.”

The 38-year-old American will be searching for the right formula if she reaches the final of the upcoming Australian Open. She says, “I am not necessarily chasing a record— I’m just trying to win Grand Slams.” She is being both sincere and self-protective. Serena has already surpassed Stefanie Graf as the most prolific female player ever in securing major crowns, taking 23 Big Four prizes, and standing only one title away from a tie with Australian Margaret Court for the all-time women’s record.

Serena must be taken seriously as a strong contender at three of the four majors this season. She will be dangerous not only in Melbourne but also at Wimbledon and the US Open again. She is striving for her eighth Australian Open and Wimbledon triumphs, and hoping to rule at the US Open for the seventh time. She would love to secure a fourth French Open victory as well, but is unmistakably more vulnerable on the clay than she is on the quicker surfaces.

To be sure, Serena remains a central player in the women’s game. To be one match away from winning both Wimbledon and the US Open for the past two years is no mean feat—she was the favorite on all four occasions. But the facts are inescapable; she was ousted in straight sets every time. Serena was soundly beaten, 6-3, 6-3, by Angelique Kerber in the 2018 Wimbledon final; eclipsed by Naomi Osaka in the 2018 US Open final, 6-2, 6-4; routed, 6-2, 6-2, by Simona Halep in the 2019 Wimbledon title round meeting; and halted by Andreescu in her most recent final-round setback on the hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center after rallying from 1-5 down in the second set and making it more interesting.

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What makes these losses astonishing is the fact that the 38-year-old American had established herself unequivocally as one of the best ever big match players—man or woman—in tennis history. In the middle of 2015, after winning Wimbledon for her third Grand Slam title in a row, her record in major finals was a remarkable 21-4. At that stage, she had won eight in a row and there was virtually no stopping her when it mattered.

But then Serena was stunningly beaten in the semifinals of the 2015 US Open by the wily Italian Roberta Vinci, falling three sets shy of a sweep of that season’s four majors. Serena seemed to have frozen feet in the latter stages of that jarring setback, and thus her bid to become only the fourth woman to win a Career Grand Slam came to an end.

That crippling loss had lasting implications for Serena.

She was beaten in two of the three major finals she contested in 2016 before claiming her 23rd major at the 2017 Australian Open while in the early stages of pregnancy. And then, of course, she lost those four big finals over the past couple of years, making her record a still magnificent but not as impressive 23-10.

Now the American is still trying to win her first major since becoming a mother. She opens her 2020 campaign as the No. 10 ranked woman in the world. Her life these days is much more multi-layered than ever before. Her priorities have been sweepingly altered over the last couple of years. And yet, she is driven by very powerful private engines to claim a couple more majors and stand alone at the top of the women’s historical ladder in that category.

Compounding her challenges is the inescapable fact that growing older as a competitor is fraught with complexities. Serena is clearly more injury prone as she moves through the tail end of her thirties. She has chosen to play less for a variety of reasons across the last bunch of seasons, even before becoming a mother. In 2016, she appeared in only eight tournaments, taking two titles that season. The following year, she went on maternity leave after eclipsing her sister Venus in the Australian Open final. In 2018, Serena returned but competed in only seven tournaments, playing a mere 24 matches. And this past year of 2019, she appeared in eight tournaments and played just 31 matches.

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It has been an arduous stretch for a great player of growing physical vulnerability and mounting insecurities. She has not won any tournaments at all since she took the title in Melbourne three years ago. That is a long time for a champion who has amassed 72 singles crowns to go without claiming a title; she is yearning to add more prominent prizes to her collection. But there must be a gnawing feeling in Serena’s psyche that the scales are now slightly balanced against her. Not only is her body more fragile, but the others who reside in the Top 10 are not as intimidated by Serena as they once were. They also recognize that she did not advance to the finals of four majors combined in 2018 and 2019 by accident; she got there because at her best, the Serena of today is only slightly less prodigious than the Serena of yesteryear.

The view here is that 2020 will be a critical season for Serena. Realistically, she won’t be able to fend off her younger rivals for long once she turns 40 in September of 2021. And so this season will be fascinating in what it reveals about her in the late autumn of her career. She will head into the Australian Open with some good preparation after playing the ASB Classic in Auckland this week. On Thursday, she toppled countrywoman Christina McHale, 3-6 6-2, 6-3, to reach the quarterfinals. Serena began inauspiciously, losing her serve three times in the opening set. But she found her range the rest of the way.

My feeling is that Serena may not quite make it over the finish line at a major again. But only a fool would count her out. Her talent and temerity are the twin virtues that could take her where she wants to go. She said after losing the US Open final four months ago, “It’s definitely frustrating. But for the most part I am still here. I’m still doing what I can do.”

Of this much we can be certain: if Serena does not prevail at the Australian Open and fails to win another major anywhere, it will not be because she has not put forth a gigantic effort.