Serena Williams’ incredible success was not just due to her technical prowess but also her strong mentality and fighting spirit. Her former coach, Rennae Stubbs, highlighted her mental fortitude while claiming that no one holds a “grudge for revenge” more than the American star. And Serena concurs.
In a conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin from the New York Times, Williams admitted that this mindset extended beyond the tennis court. “That’s across everything that I do,” she said.
The former World No.1 added that it had worked well for her because she made it a personal mission to never repeat her mistakes. Serena believes the lessons learnt from losses shaped her into the person she is today.
“Obviously, that was my big thing in tennis, like I never wanted to lose,” elaborated the 23-time Grand Slam winner. “But unfortunately, I think when you do lose you learn some of your biggest lessons. Every loss that I had, I kind of needed that to actually become Serena Williams or I would have never been this person had I not taken some of those really hard falls.”
Stubbs coached Serena very briefly, during her final Grand Slam appearance at the 2022 US Open to be exact. However, that was enough for the Australian to identify this trait that stood Serena apart. Speaking on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis podcast last month, she had said that Novak Djokovic also carries this particular mentality.
“I think on the men’s side I would say that Novak maybe, but I think there was no one who held a grudge for revenge more than Serena Williams, which is one of the reasons why she was so great, because she was never into complacency. It was always about, ‘it’s never going to happen again’.”
Stubbs elaborated on many things about Serena on the podcast, including the American’s dominating victory over Maria Sharapova at the 2012 Olympics. She labeled it as the “greatest match” she had ever seen of Serena.
Williams recorded one of the most dominant runs in Olympic history
Williams was in the form of her life during the 2012 season, particularly on the grass court. She won Wimbledon, dropping merely two sets in the tournament. And, she found a way to elevate her game even more during the Olympics a month later.
During the 2012 London Games, Serena did not drop a single set. None of the six opponents won more than three games in a set or more than five games in an entire match. She saved her best for the final, recording a 6-0, 6-1 win over Sharapova.
“The greatest match I ever saw Serena Williams play, and I saw her play a lot of great tennis, was the finals of the Olympics in London against Sharapova,” Stubbs spoke about the final.
Beating the five-time Grand Slam champion, that too while losing only one game in the gold medal match, is indeed a performance worthy of being labelled as Serena’s best.
