Whatever Mr and Mrs Williams saw in their gifted second daughter when they named her Serena 33 years ago, she has rarely lived up to any perception of tranquillity or contentment.
While the media waited at Roland Garros for hours on Friday for Williams to provide an update on the flu that struck her down in the third round – and which came perilously close to draining her to the point of surrender in her semi-final against the Swiss Timea Bacsinszky on Thursday – she chose to recuperate in the privacy of her Parisian apartment, then issue an ambiguous statement about her state of health.
Despite the lingering illness, despite her penchant for being just a little too difficult for no apparent reason, the best player in the women’s game since Steffi Graf will surely play and move to within two grand slam titles of the German’s Open era record of 22 on Saturday if she drags her suffering body on to Court Philippe Chatrier to contest the 2015 French Open against the No13 seed, Lucie Safarova.
Still, a French Open official would only say late on Friday: “She’s still in the tournament.” In a statement vetted by her team, Williams did not address the question directly but it is inconceivable she would pull out of a slam final at the last minute.
“I think I have some kind of flu, which makes it tough because it’s just a matter of resting and keeping hydrated,” she said. “There’s not much else I can do. I’ve felt really cold, so I’m just fighting that, trying to sweat it out. A doctor is coming to see me and we’ll see if he can do anything else to help but I don’t think there is anything. It’s just time. I need time and obviously don’t have a lot of it. But it helps that I can be at my apartment and have my family and friends with me.
“Being in the final here in Paris means so much to me and it’s very upsetting that I feel so lousy right now. It’s really unfortunate to be like this at the grand slam where I feel so at home and really want to win. I just have to hope that tomorrow I will be feeling a lot better and am able to give my best on court.”
She will surely haul herself to the line, pilled-up and sweating. She will hover close to defeat, perhaps, before recovering with her trademark sense of dramatic timing to seal her third French title and, in all likelihood, there will be little her very nice Czech opponent can do about it except swat at howitzers from hand and off the ground. It has rarely been any different.
The only players to beat Williams in 23 grand slam finals have been her sister Venus, twice, Maria Sharapova, in her teenage pomp at Wimbledon in 2004, and Sam Stosur on a mad night in New York in 2011 when the Australian was briefly in the most magnificent form of her career. In the other 19 finals, Williams prevailed, often emphatically.
The American will thus almost certainly draw to within two titles of Graf’s record, knowing that victory at Wimbledon then the US Open will give her the first sweep of the majors since Graf’s achievement in 1988. History beckons. Flu be damned.
Virginia Wade – who famously cast “drama queen” doubts on Andy Murray’s commitment to the cause when a back spasm almost knocked him out of this tournament in 2012 – observed on Eurosport of Williams’ very public collapse before beating Bacsinszky: “I really don’t know what to make of it. She obviously didn’t feel well and felt incredibly sorry for herself but she sure hit the ball incredibly well when she had to. It was like a balloon was inflated and suddenly Serena stuck a pin in it. I am sure she will feel better by the final. I certainly hope so because she sounded pretty awful.
“Her serve is definitely the best in the women’s game. The way it is produced, the technique, is as good as any in the game.” The American’s health aside, this is a mismatch of a slam final. If Safarova could resist the Williams serve even a third of the time, she might make a show of it – but it is unlikely.
Each of them has lost 39 times in slams; the disparity is in the win column: 272 for Williams and 48 for Safarova. Everywhere you look in the stats, the chasm is dramatic: Williams has earned more than $4m this year alone; Safarova – whose ambition is to own a coffee shop and bake her own cakes – has earned $6.4m in her whole 12-year career. This is her first slam final. With all due respect, it might be her last.
As one of the most popular players in a sport where there is a good deal of locker-room spite, Safarova stands out as the exception. Her win over the equally admired Ana Ivanovic in the semi-finals was lauded on social media by a range of players. The former British No1 Anne Keothavong was typical, tweeting: “Amazing effort from @luciesafarova! Such a likeable woman.”
Asked after that match if the “good girl” might win the final – a question unsubtly implying that Williams is not so regarded – Safarova giggled and replied: “I hope so. I think sport should be about fair play. I think people should be nice to each other. Doesn’t matter if it’s in sports or in general.”
That is not a sentiment Williams takes on to the court, however much she might agree with it in life. She is best friends with Caroline Wozniacki yet brutally beat her in the final of the US Open last year. As another of her close friends, the retired former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, said at the start of this tournament: “Serena does you no favours.”
All the love or respect in the world will not help Safarova get the ball back over the net when Williams hits her stride. She does have the consolation of appearing in the doubles final with the American Bethanie Mattek-Sands on Sunday, however, having toiled in the heat to win their semi-final on Friday. Three big matches in three days, then, for Safarova – and the biggest of them a couple of hours of hell; slap-bang in the middle against Serena Williams.
