New York (AP)— Imagine if they could bottle a potion called “Only Serena.”
That was Serena Williams’ succinct and laugh-out-loud explanation of how she managed — at 41 and rusty — to beat the world’s second-ranked player and advance to the third round of a US Open on Wednesday so far, it doesn’t feel much like a goodbye. “I’m just Serena,” she told raucous fans.
Clearly, there is only one Serena. But as superhuman as many considered her feat, some older fans in particular — middle-aged or beyond — said they also saw in Williams’ latest run a very human and relatable feat. Namely, the idea that they, too, could perform better and longer than they once thought possible—through fitness, practice, and grit.
“It makes me feel good about what I’m still doing at my age,” said Bess Brodsky Goldstein, 63, a lifelong tennis enthusiast who was attending the Open on Thursday, the day after Williams’ triumph over Anett 26 – year old. Contaveit.
Goldstein pursues her passion for sports more vigorously than most women her age. She plays several times a week and participates in a USTA 55-and-over mixed doubles league in New England. (She also plays competitive golf.)
Still, Goldstein, like any athlete, suffers her share of aches and pains, like a recent knee problem that sidelined her several weeks. Watching Williams, she said, shows ordinary people that trauma — or, in Williams’ case, a life-threatening birth experience five years ago — can be overcome. “She gives you the inspiration that you can achieve your best, even in your early 60s,” said Goldstein, who also had high praise for Venus Williams, Serena’s older sister, who competed this year at age 42. – year old.
Evelyn David was also watching tennis at the Open on Thursday, and she was also thinking about the night before.
“Everybody’s going, ‘WHOA!'” said David, who smilingly listed her age as “older than my 60s” and is the site director for New York Junior Tennis Learning, the which works with children and adolescents. She mentioned the physicality of Williams’ game and the role of fitness in today’s tennis. “The rigorous training that athletes go through now is different,” David said. “She’s going, ‘I’m not falling. I can get to the ball.’
“A total inspiration,” David called Williams’ performance — and she had distinguished company.
“Can I put something into perspective here?” former champion and ESPN commentator Chris Evert said during Wednesday’s broadcast. “This is a 40-year-old mother. It’s taking my breath away.”
Evert retired at the age of 34 in 1989, long before fitness and nutrition were the major factors in tennis that they are now. They were even fewer when pioneering player Billie Jean King, now 78, was in her prime.
“For us seniors, it gives us hope and it’s fun,” King said Thursday in an interview with Williams. “Put it in your stride. It gives you energy.” She noted how tournament fitness has changed since the 1960s and 1970s.
“We had no information and we had no money,” King said. “When people win a tournament now, they say, ‘Thanks for my team.’ They are very lucky to have all those people. We didn’t even have a coach.”
Jessica Pegula, the no. 8 who won Thursday, is at 28 a half-century younger than King. She knows well the difference fitness has made.
“It’s been a big part of it,” she said. “Athletes, the way they take care of their bodies, sports nutrition, the science behind exercise and nutrition — (it) has changed so much. Back in the day, you saw a player drinking a Coca-Cola on the sideline or they had a beer after their game. Now… health has been priority no. 1, be it physical or mental.” She said she remembered thinking that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Williams would all retire, but “they kept pushing the boundaries”.
Federer, 41, has not played since Wimbledon last year due to operations on his right knee, but has said he will try to play Wimbledon next year, just before his 42nd birthday. And Nadal, 36, known for his intense dedication to fitness, has won two Grand Slam titles this year to take his tally to a men’s record 22. No one would be surprised if he won another major. By contrast, Jimmy Connors’ famous run to the 1991 US Open semifinals when he was 39 was considered an event for the history books.
In the women’s game, a longtime fitness pioneer was Martina Navratilova, who won her last Grand Slam title, the US Open mixed doubles in 2006, at the age of 49.
Of course, fitness is just one building block to greatness – in any sport. Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons, who like Pegula is 28, noted that while it’s inspiring to see Williams maintain an athletic edge in part through preparation, “not everyone is Serena and Venus Williams. Maybe there are some genes that not everyone else is blessed enough to have, but it’s still interesting to know that, hey, even though she’s genetically gifted, there are some things she’s done that have helped her a remarkable way to extend her career.”
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Dr. Michael J. Joyner, who studies human performance at the Mayo Clinic, said Williams shares many traits with other superstar athletes, including star quarterback Tom Brady (45 and famously unretired) who have enjoyed long careers.
“What you see with all these people is that they stay motivated, they’ve avoided catastrophic injury … or they’ve been able to come back because they’ve recovered,” he said. Also key: They live in the “modern age of sports medicine.”
The question, he asked, is can Williams perform at the same level every other day to win an entire tournament? He hopes so.
Williams fan Jamie Martin, who has worked in physical therapy since 1985 and owns a chain of clinics in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, said she is seeing more women playing vigorous, competitive sports well into middle age and beyond. beyond. Some return to their sport, or take up a new one, after years of focusing on work or family.
Williams’ pursuit of another US Open title at age 40 is a reminder that women can not only stay competitive longer, but can compete now for the joy of it, she notes.
“She’s really enjoying playing,” Martin, 59, said. “That’s what’s fun to watch right now.”
Brooklyn teacher Mwezi Pugh says both Williams sisters are great examples of living life on their own terms — which includes deciding how long they want to play.
“They’re still following their playbook,” said Pugh, 51. “Are you ready to retire yet, Serena?” ‘I don’t like that word. I would rather say evolution.’ “Are you ready to retire, Venus?” ‘Not today.'”
“The older you get, the more you should be able to arrange your life the way you like and what works best for you,” Pugh said. “That’s what the sisters are doing and teaching us all a lesson.”
