Even if Serena Williams had conquered Roberta Vinci in New York and gone on to become only the fourth woman in history to win all four majors in a calendar year, the American would probably have been too exhausted to finish the season.
The world No 1 would have been drained, mentally more than physically, after achieving one of the rarest feats in sport.
After Vinci’s cruel intervention that Friday to stop Williams’s calendar grand slam bid in the US Open semi-finals, a break was imperative.
The 21-time major champion was now nursing a heartbreak along with a number of niggles.
“It’s no secret I’ve played injured most of the year – whether it was my elbow, my knee or in the final moments after a certain match in Flushing [the US Open], my heart,” Williams was quoted as saying on the China Open website as she announced her decision to bring down the curtains on her 2015 campaign.
It is her heart that is probably aching the most, for victory in New York would have confirmed Williams’s spot among the sport’s elites, putting her alongside Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988) as the only woman to win the calendar grand slam in the Open era (Maureen Connolly Brinker had earlier won all four majors in 1953).
Williams would also have drawn level with Graf on the list of the most grand slam singles titles on 22, with only Court ahead on 24.
Those records still remain within her reach, but the opportunity to achieve a career grand slam is probably gone.
“She was two matches away from something really big, so it was very painful,” Williams’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou told ESPN. “Any loss is very painful for her, but this one even more than usual, so it just takes time to recover from it.”
So this break is crucial for Williams. Staying away from the glare after months of intense pressure could help her find peace, heal and rediscover her motivation.
“I plan to return to practising and participating in exhibition matches later this year,” said Williams, who lost only three singles matches in 2015 and had a run of 33 straight singles victories at the majors before her loss to Vinci.
“And when I do, l will focus and focus and focus, so I can continue my journey in this beautiful game.”
However, the journey will have a lot more stops in the future and Williams’s fans will have to get used to it.
Like Roger Federer, who is also 34, Williams will have to manage her schedule carefully.
Her focus will, obviously, be on the grand slam tournaments, and while that might not please everyone, the fact is tennis players are remembered by the number of majors they have won, not by the number of year-end championships on their resume.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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