See how Serena Williams became one of the all-time greats on the same day she took the title from the most hated player in tennis history, Andy Roddick, at the U.S. Open.
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Serena Williams had just won her first major final. It was a big one too, one she had never won before. On a cool September evening in a familiar city in the nation’s capital, the American tennis star took the top prize and her second Wimbledon title, just one year and two days after beating her nemesis, Andy Roddick.
Serena Williams had not played an opponent as good as Roddick since she turned pro, and she was not going to let up. Not after winning the previous two Wimbledon titles, the first in 1998 and the other in ’99. Not after she proved Roddick was no longer a top player, despite their battles.
And not after Serena proved Roddick and the rest of the world were wrong about her.
Roddick was never as great as Serena Williams. But he was always one of the world’s top players, and still is when he is healthy. That is why he is still the most disliked player in tennis, and the most hated man in American society.
Serena’s win in the U.S. Open final Tuesday, against the man who had just been her nemesis, sent a message to the sport, the fans and the world that all the doubters of her greatness proved wrong.
“It was my time, and I deserved this. For a long time, I was the most hated person in sport, and that’s what I had to prove. I’m happy I proved them wrong and I feel like if you don’t have a good result, everybody says, ‘That’s good for tennis and good for Serena.'”
That’s the thing about Serena. Despite all the noise made against her by pundits and fans, her game never changed. It just evolved.
“From what I’ve seen from Serena, and from me in many, many matches against her, and
