I mean, Ashley Harkleroad, who's a name that was an up and coming star couple of years ago, made it as far as the third round of the tournament. FATSIS: From an American standpoint, doesn't seem to be. Are there any obvious stars waiting in the wings? NORRIS: Stefan, the early rounds of the tournament are often a chance to spot up and coming talent. And Lindsay Davenport left the tour to have a baby. Venus Williams has played in only one tournament last year. The main reasons, injuries to the Williams, of course. And by the end of the year, there were no American women in the top 20, and no American woman was seeded at the Australia Open for the first time. Last summer, for the first time since computer ranking started in 1975, no American woman was in the top 10. FATSIS: It's been very lean time for women's tennis here. NORRIS: And her return seems to be a real shot in the arm for women's tennis in the U.S. Williams leaves the tournament with 57 aces, Sharapova is 3rd with 21. She'll become number one in the world regardless of what happens tomorrow in Melbourne. She is the faith and the force of women's tennis right now. And after every one, she was required to give a sort of progress report. And Williams has beaten four seeded players en route to the final. She will face top seed Maria Sharapova in the final match. NORRIS: Well, it'll be interesting to see what she shows up on the court tonight. She pinned the criticism on haters, and said she could get back to number onein the world. She's been her radiant self back in the headlines. And in a world of blandish, I think, stars, Serena has been great.
She wore that funky lime green get up in the opening round. She's wearing weird outfits again that's distracting from her tennis. And when the tournament started, the criticism became that she's unfit. So her interest has been huge these past two weeks, of course.
SERENA WILLIAMS LOCKED HERSELF IN SAFEROOM PROFESSIONAL
ESPN does sports polling, and between January and November of last year, when she played in the total of four tournaments, Serena was still the number one professional female athlete, favorite athlete. NORRIS: Well, despite the layoff, the criticism, the ups and the downs, it's clear from the attention that she's received and the play on the court that she's still a captivating athlete. Serena's response was, people don't know me, they don't know what I think or feel, and I'm coming back. And then the public reaction becomes she's not dedicated to the game. She recently said that she was going to build a school in Senegal. And after that injuries but also some criticism that she was spending too much time on other parts of her life, fashion, being a celebrity, being a wealthy celebrity.
Open and the Australian Open in January of 2003. Serena won four of those in a row starting with the French Open in 2002, then Wimbledon, the U.S. The sisters played each other in the finals of six Grand Slam tournaments. From the fall of 2001 until the summer of 2003. NORRIS: With that much time off the court, it's easy to forget how dominant Serena Williams and her sister, Venus, were for such a long time. And she spent several weeks before Christmas in a courtroom in Florida involved in a breach of contract lawsuit that was filed by promoters of a battle of the sexes tournament in that state. I know ranking isn't always meaningful, but before our warm-up tournament for Melbourne that was played in Tazmania, Serena Williams hadn't played in the tournament since the U.S. She fell to 140th in the world and ended up last year 95th in the world. She had taken six months off from tennis after last year's Australian Open, partly because of injuries, but also because she said she wanted a mental break. Casual observers of the sport may have been shocked knowing that she was unseeded in the Australian Open? NORRIS: It's a pretty amazing run for Serena Williams. STEFAN FATSIS (Wall Street Journal): Hey, Michele. Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis of the Wall Street Journal joins us now, as he does most Fridays, this time to talk about this comeback. She sat out for a while with knee and ankle injuries. Williams started of the tournament unseeded and ranked 81st in the world. She will face Maria Sharapova in the women's final. I'm Melissa Block.Ī surprise star has emerged this week in the Australian Open tennis tournament, and it is Serena Williams. From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
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