Serena Williams can't lose

By Sandra Eggers Sports Central, eSports Columnist

There was an imposter on court when she lost to Jennifer Capriati at the French Open, and a viral infection contributed to her loss at Wimbledon. Looking like a favorite to win last year's Wimbledon title, the game of Serena Williams collapsed and fell apart when she faced sister Venus in the semifinals.

Since winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open in 1999, Serena Williams has had some tough breaks and bad luck. With the Wimbledon loss to Capriati, she is now a self-proclaimed hypochondriac -- more prone to get sick, hurt, and injured than the next person. She has not reached another Grand Slam singles final since her first at Flushing Meadows, despite predictions from Richard Williams that his daughters are the best in the world.

The top of women's tennis is very competitive and extremely difficult to break through. It takes a champion to overcome adverse situations and win Grand Slam titles consistently over time. The great ones have done it, and the others have tried to achieve it, but most fail. Not to take anything from Serena William's Grand Slam win in 1999, but she has not come close to repeating at any of the other Slams, except in doubles with sister Venus.

With the increased pressure put on the Williams sisters by father Richard and the media, the girls are learning to cope with expectations. Venus Williams just won her third Grand Slam singles title, and that has put even more emphasis on sister Serena's accomplishments.

Could all this pressure be keeping Serena from finding success? Are the expectations too high? Why hasn't she been a serious Grand Slam contender since the win in 1999? With all this emphasis on the dominance of the Williams sisters, what happened to Serena? Seems like when she has an opportunity to finally break through, she gets sick or injured and loses a key match or is forced to retire. This is especially true of top ten opponents -- when the going gets tough, and not so much against those who she can easily overpower.

We tend to see more drama in the Serena Williams matches than we do with sister Venus. If Serena isn't overwhelming her opponent in defeat, and ends up taking a loss, she seems to always have a reason why she failed. Either she's either injured, or just coming back from injury, not playing much, or otherwise sick. You just don't hear these kinds of excuses from the other top players. They give credit to their opponents for a match well played, and accept defeat graciously with respect. This is not something that comes naturally to the Williams sisters, as they expect to win every match.

Was Serena really sick during this year's Wimbledon quarterfinal loss to Jennifer Capriati? We will never know the real story, but there probably is some truth to it. Would she intentionally make up an excuse to justify her loss? That depends on her state of mind and the expectations being placed on her. It could be that she wants to succeed so badly, she's actually making herself sick.

For all that's said about the Williams sisters, and whether or not we agree with the antics of father Richard, through it all we sometimes forget that Serena is still a teenager. Her Grand Slam accomplishments include one singles title, four women's doubles titles, and two mixed doubles titles. There's no doubt this girl can play. She has a bright future in front her that includes many more Grand Slam titles. Now if only the media would leave her alone, and Richard could keep his thoughts to himself, Serena might just come up with that second Grand Slam title.

Article courtesy of Sports Central