My post about Venus Williams was put up on the run yesterday; some have described it as harsh. Here, though, is part of what a Latina United Airlines agent—and knowledgeable tennis fan—told me in a casual conversation while she processed my tickets at JFK.
"I used to like the Williams sisters, and they're probably still the best players in the game. But they don't care about tennis anymore. I don't understand that, tennis is the game that made them rich and famous and now it's like they can't be bothered."
Let's keep in mind, though, that there are critical differences between Venus and Serena—there always have been. Of the two, Venus is the more puzzling and elusive. There's this African-American type that I've noticed and dubbed "Nubian Princess"—she's tall, articulate, poised, full of frosty dignity; she's haughty, dramatic, and given to fixing you with a long look while arching her eyebrow. A few decades ago, she always wore things like colorful, flowing Back to Africa prints, loads of jangly jewelry, interesting headgear.
Venus has always been like a Nubian Princess.
Serena, by contrast, is a lot more relaxed; sure she's cocky and flamboyant, but it's in this engaging, Big Babe way. I mean, this is a powerful, pretty, hugely talented woman who feels she needs to make—of all things—fashion statements! Like what—people aren't going to notice her otherwise?
Serena's like a muscular, enormous, playful tiger cub, totally unaware of her own strength. She's also a bit of a goofball who could easily play the role of an African-American Lucille Ball (if you remember “I Love Lucy”). She's far more down to earth than Venus, and I think that's partly why she's been more successful lately. Serena, the actress, is more inclined to accept her identity as a tennis player as one of a number of roles she plays. To me, the annoying thing about Venus is that she's become the Queen of the Nile. She's never been able to deal with how good Serena is, not at a really meaningful level. That explains why they have great matches; Venus may say it's because she wants to see her kid sister win, I think it's because she can't handle the idea of losing to Serena. Did it ever occur to either or both of them that it's perfectly okay to go out, play your guts out against your sibling, and accept the result as nothing more—or less—than the score of a game? I think that has occurred to Serena; Venus, I think, has rivalry issues.
Probably for all of the reasons above, Venus has grown increasingly remote and opaque. In her press conferences, she alternates between the coy and the cryptic in ways that are merely tedious. And she's becoming a lousy sport, too. After Venus was beaten by Alicia Molik, a hard worker with an appealing attacking game, she was asked about the quality of Molik's serve. Her reply? A stony "She has a good serve." And to a follow-up question about Molik's degree of improvement, Venus replied:
"Obviously, she's playing better. But I just didn't play that well. So normally if I'm playing five per cent better, this match is going to be mine." Need we say more?