Strewth! I called it wrong
Pat Cash is happy to eat humble pie after Serena Williams produces an awesome display of power tennis to win in Melbourne
Pat Cash
"AUSTRALIANS are not very good at admitting their mistakes. Maybe that’s because it doesn’t happen very often when sport is concerned, but I hold my hands up in apology, I got it wrong all ends up about Serena Williams. In my defence, I was not alone. Tracy Austin, who knows more about women’s tennis than me, laughed at the suggestion that the former world No 1 had a legitimate shot at climbing back to the top. Yet here are the two of us, and many more besides, eating humble pie after Serena collected a third Australian Open title to take her Grand Slam collection to eight.
What does this win mean, except for the fact I once again appreciate it’s a good job I don’t gamble because I would have put a lot of money on Serena not even being around for the second week of the tournament, let alone winning the whole thing? Foremost, it proves she is a a dynamic athlete and quite simply the strongest female player the game has ever known. It defies belief that she can turn up for a Grand Slam after playing just four tournaments in the past 12 months and win the thing. However, it reinforces my long-held view that there is a huge disparity between the relative strengths of the men’s and women’s games. For a woman to win a major title, no matter how talented and experienced she might be, on so little match play is a sad indictment of the WTA Tour.
This result also tells me that the young band of players — Nicole Vaidisova, Jelena Jankovic, Shahar Peer, Nadia Petrova, and even Maria Sharapova on the evidence of the final — are intimidated by Williams when she is focused on the job and brimful of determination. You have to admit, she must be a pretty awesome sight across the net when she is slamming winners.
People were shocked when Venus Williams got through to win the Wimbledon title in 2005, but this achievement eclipses even that. Just a few weeks ago, Serena turned up in Hobart for a minor warm-up tournament and lasted a couple of rounds before losing out to a player who was eliminated here within a couple of days.
I can understand why Serena allowed her concentration to wander into the worlds of acting and fashion. She lived and breathed little other than tennis for most of her teens and everybody needs time to break out. You also have to add the distress she felt when her half-sister was murdered in 2003. I lost a half-brother when I was a junior player and it was something I struggled to come to terms with for years. Now she is back and I hope that we see Serena contending at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. I will not be making the same mistake again."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article1267495.ece
