by Bobby Chintapalli
My relationship with Serena Williams is tumultuous. Sometimes I love to hate her, most times I hate to love her (but I do). My feelings for her are strong – it’s just that they waver, quickly and often, between exasperation and affection. Fine, so let’s just get this over with:
Hi, my name is Bobby, and I’m a Serena Williams fan.
There, I said it. Is there a Serenity Prayer for tennis fans in 12-step programs?
The book talks most frequently and forcefully about family and, oh yeah, tennis: “The greatest love of all? At first, it was my family. My sisters. But then tennis mixed itself in.”
When talking about the family, Serena oozes sweetness and only occasionally in a saccharine way: “We didn’t have much, but we had each other. We picked each other up and carried each other forward. We rallied.”
On the Line conveys something you may already know – that you can’t spell 'Serena' without 'Venus.' The prologue is about their memorable match in last year’s US Open quarterfinals. A full chapter ('Me and V') focuses on Serena’s relationship with the big sister she occasionally envies but always adores: “She cast a big shadow, I’ll say that. She was taller, prettier, quicker, more athletic. And, she was certainly nicer.”
Serena talks about how much she loved the ‘Golden Girls’ (“I just watched that show into the ground”), but the show that comes to my mind is ‘The Brady Bunch’. Say it with me: “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!”
Growing up in Compton, the whole family practiced, bonded – and practically lived – at public tennis courts, where Serena doesn’t remember seeing drug paraphernalia but does remember hearing gunshots (at first she thought they were firecrackers). Tennis was such an everyday part of their lives that when they moved from Compton to Florida – driving a Winnebago with everyone (and everything) piled in – their parents were concerned about how they’d fit in tennis practice.
When they couldn’t find public tennis courts along the way, they made do with rest stops, where the girls spent time swinging their rackets and doing fitness work. “What was most memorable about that that trip was that it was the longest stretch of time we’d gone without playing tennis,” Serena writes.
• Though this book was published before Serenagate, several passages made me think of that incident, the biggest YouTube moment from this year’s US Open. Take this: “People are always asking me why I don’t go crazy over bad calls… and it’s because I try to carry myself in a certain way.”
Then there’s this: “[You] need a wild streak if you hope to be a serious competitor. . .You need to put it out there that you’re reckless and unpredictable. . .You’ve got to embrace the wild, rash abandon that finds you and lifts you and transforms you in the heat of a cutthroat moment.”
A few players not named Venus feature in matches discussed at some length. There's that tussle with Jennifer Capriati's in the US Open match, the one notorious for the crazy bad calls that went against Serena, and reportedly hastened the introduction of the player challenge system.
Daniela Hantuchova makes two appearances (call me crazy, but this book makes me think Serena has a soft spot for her): There's an Australian Open match Serena lost – think sad tears mixed with sweat. And there's a Wimbledon match Serena won despite enduring "the most terrible pain [she’s] ever known" – think happy tears mixed with rain. Of course you can't have a Serena Williams memoir without Kim Clijsters, who played Serena in that Indian Wells final destined to give every future WTA CEO heartburn. That match deservedly has its own chapter (and it's a good one).
• On Kim Clijsters during the most famous Indian Wells final ever: “She put on a tremendous effort that day and a stirring show of sportsmanship under difficult circumstances.”
• On Daniela Hantuchova, there’s this random comment: "She's so tall – not quite as tall as Venus, but she hits the ball hard, behind a big, big serve. Plus, she's so pretty!" And there's this comment about that Wimbledon match in which Serena cramped so badly she collapsed on the grass: "I stood in there while Daniela served out the game... [She] must have taken pity on me, because she served it right at me... "
• On Svetlana Kuznetsova after her early loss at last year’s US Open: "I'm sad, because I like her. She’s one of the players I get along with on the tour. So sweet, so funny."
• On Jelena Jankovic before she reached the Top 20: “She didn’t really have much of a serve, but she could put her stamp on a game in every other aspect. . ."
• On Ana Ivanovic after she was upset at last year’s US Open: “I can’t believe it, the girl beat her! The #1 seed! Always such a shocker when the #1 seed goes in the second round. Changes the whole field.”
• On Amelie Mauresmo during the 2007 US Open: “She was the same dangerous player – big and strong and smart. . ."
• On Ai Sugiyama during last year’s US Open: "She’s tough. I never like going up against these veterans, because they can find ways to hang in there.”
• On playing Nadia Petrova at the 2007 Australian Open: “[She] took the first set while I wasn't really paying attention.”
• On Elena Vesnina after Serena beat her at last year’s US Open (and I didn’t make this up): “Oh my God, I played so well today! So proud of myself. OK, so I played… hmmm… who did I play???” (I can’t believe I’ve forgotten her name! I’ll go look it up!)”
• On Kateryna Bondarenko before playing her at last year’s US Open: “Venus knows everyone’s game, so I’ll have to check in with V to see how Kateryna plays. I played her sister Alona earlier this year in Rome on clay. Kicked her butt. 6-2, 6-0. If Kateryna asks her big sister for a report on my game, she might wish she hadn’t.”
• On watching Gabriella Sabatini play, back when Serena was just a kid: “I remember watching Gabriella Sabatini, and thinking she was so tall and so beautiful, but at the same time thinking, Man, I can beat that girl.”
• On how Tracy Austin provided even more motivation for her to win the 2007 Australian Open: “She actually came right out and said in her tournament analysis that Maria would have no problem with me once the match got underway. I heard that and thought it was such a mean, unnecessary thing to say.”
• On Roger Federer during last year's US Open: "Tough to stay sharp and unbeatable tournament after tournament. We're seeing that now with Roger. Everybody is so quick to write him off, because he loses a set, because he's not so invincible after all, but he's still Roger Federer!!!" And on running into him at a Wilson party before the tournament: “I saw Roger again. He's the greatest, the nicest guy. So funny!!"
Well, there you have it. I guess I'm going to have to run and get to another meeting to confess my dependency.