Serena Williams’ triumph on the tennis court in equalling Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 Grand Slams is remarkable. One of the greatest tales of sporting excellence of our times comes from a black athlete who fought the racism inherent in the system to triumph against the odds and keeps on doing so till well into the late autumn of her career. Her background can never be isolated from her triumph in beating her own record as the oldest player to win a Grand Slam.
She seems on course to beat Margaret Court’s amateur and Open-era record of 24 Grand Slams. She has showed the way in fighting off her lowest personal motivation levels after major injuries while staging the smartest of comebacks since 2012 under the tutelage of her French coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Dragged into the Dallas sniper incident, she came out with a composed statement even as she worried about any of her cousins being shot just for being a black man out driving a car while at the same time grieving for the slain white cops. Having lost a half sister in a drive-by shooting, Serena knows what grief is.
But her iconic status as a black athlete, somewhat in the mould of Muhammad Ali, places her in an inspirational position in the difficult times her country finds itself. Andy Murray, the British player from Scotland, who has produced great results despite competing in the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, might know a thing or two about troubled times, too, as his Scotland voted against Brexit. His acknowledging the presence of UK Prime Minister David Cameron at the final said it all. Sport conquers divisions.
