Willing Her Way Past A Williams!

Garbine Muguruza made history as the first player to beat both Serena and Venus Williams, her girlhood role models, in Grand Slam finals. With just four overall titles, two of which are majors, the AMBITIOUS SPANIARD REMAINS mystifying inconsistent. Will her boom-and-bust cycles return, or will she reign in the post-Serena era? And, whatever happens, don’t count the venerable Venus Williams out, too.

- Paul Fein

“Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her; but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game.” — Voltaire

“Venus Ebony Starr Williams has over-come so much. The divorce of her parents in 2002, the murder of her half-sister in 2003, the diagnosis of Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011, and last month her involvement in a fatal traffic accident she called “devastating” in a tearful Wimbledon press conference. While she was exonerated by the police, she faces a civil lawsuit. It all exacted a heavy toll. Especially the auto-immune disease which often left her with so little energy that her ranking plunged to No. 137. “I thought her career was over in 2011,” said former champion Chris Evert. “I never thought she’d have this resurgence.”

THE RESURGENCE STARTED a year ago when Venus reached the Wimbledon semifinals. It gathered momentum with a run to the Australian Open final in January. And this fortnight, without pregnant Serena in the draw, many envisioned its culmination with a sixth Wimbledon title.

Not even the age of 37 — ancient for a pro tennis player — seemed to deter this natural optimist who loves both tennis and competition. After defeating three straight “kids” all born in 1997, including French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, Venus declared, “I love the challenge. I love the pressure. I feel quite capable, to be honest, and powerful. So whatever age that is, as long as I feel like that, I know I can contend for titles every time.”