Serena Williams has written tennis history, in a profound way. I’ve always said it: as far as I’m concerned, she is the GOAT of women’s tennis, the greatest tennis player ever, teh Queen. A lethal mix of power, technique, mental ferocity.
But even the former American superstar has had dark moments in her career. More than one, to tell the truth, but perhaps there is one in particular that she has never overcome. A trauma so strong that her psychotherapist advised her not to talk about it anymore, as revealed in her docu-series In The Arena: Serena Williams.
It is the semifinal of the 2015 US Open; the unpredictable defeat against Roberta Vinci, who she led to the first historic all-Italian final in a Major. Serena was racing to complete the Grand Slam that year after winning the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. And New York seemed like the perfect chance to write history, in front of her crowd.
In the semifinals against an outsider, with a possible final against another outsider. Vinci gave Serena a priceless tennis lesson that day (priceless also for the ticket holders for the final…), sending the nervous system of the legendary American into a tailspin. Serena who, at least until…
