GOALS AND QUESTS – TODAY’S CHERYL JONES STORY

Written by: Staff on 26th May 2015

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

GOALS AND QUESTS - TODAY'S CHERYL JONES STORY

epa04767471 General view during a break of the match Alison Riske of the USA against Sara Errani of Italy during the first round for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 25 May 2015. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

Goals and Quests

By Cheryl Jones

Today, the skies over Paris have been dappled with clouds that are predicting rain. During the past few years, rain has been an accessory to the play at Roland Garros; unwelcome, but accommodating in a small way. Playing in the rain isn’t easy for anyone, but trying to slide on terre battue in the rain isn’t even fun. It’s dangerous. Rain may have been looming over the grounds today, but the venue teemed with fans that were excited to see their tennis idols.

For those of us who make the western United States home, rain would be a welcome sight. Here, not so much. The drought in California has tilted my thinking. Actually, I am horrified at the sight of water that freely flows down the gutters and into the streets as I walk through the throngs of tennis fans before my arrival at Roland Garros. Something seems wrong about wasting all that water, but then, everything is relative. There is no drought in Paris. Water is plentiful and it actually serves a purpose. It cleanses the streets in a city where nearly everyone has a dog. And dogs do what dogs over the world do. They mark their territory and relieve themselves where they choose. After every rain there is a clean slate.

Roland Garros begins with a clean slate every year – for everyone. The losses from last year are merely a statistic in a record book and 2014 along with all the years before are a closed chapter. Serena Williams has her name on many pages of that illusive history book. She made her fourteenth main draw appearance in Paris today. Last year she bowed out in the second round after a defeat that must have stung like a nettle, all the way to her very core. Garbine Muguruza, who had ended 2013 ranked 64, opened the exit door for Williams, who at the time vowed to work out some kinks in her game. It took a while, but she managed to take home the trophy in New York when she won the US Open. In 2015, Williams has already won the Australian Open and Miami.

Williams is ranked number one in the world. She’s been there since February of 2013. (That ranking won’t be in jeopardy, no matter what happens in Paris.) She has spent 241 weeks there and the next two weeks will eventually add two more to that. With her stay at the top, she has a ways to go to catch the three women at the top of that list – Steffi Graf has 377 weeks; Martina Navratilova is a bit behind with 332 then Chris Evert with 260. In reality, only Evert might be at risk to lose her third position.

For Serena who is thirty-three, it may be difficult to pass anyone but Evert, but stranger things have happened. Serena is fit and determined to win wherever she competes. Navratilova was still in competition through her forties. By then, she had given up singles and had switched to doubles. She became the oldest player to pick up a winning trophy at a Grand Slam in 2006 when she won the Mixed Doubles title at the US Open. She was partnered with Bob Bryan. It was just a few weeks before her fiftieth birthday. Not only did she prove that she was a great competitor, she was good at picking partners, too. Since that partnership, Bob and Mike Bryan have become the most successful doubles players in history. Navratilova has become a tennis television commentator.

Serena probably won’t go that route, but she has been working for many years to get a foot in the show business door. She wants to be an actress. Whether or not that actually comes to fruition may be immaterial to her quest for success. She has been a professional tennis player most of her life. (She will celebrate her twentieth anniversary on the tour in the fall.) She became a professional in September of 1995 when she was barely 14. Up to now, she has won well over $67 million dollars in prize money in competition on the tour. Adding to that, commercials and other endorsements and it appears that she’s set for life even if she decides to sit in an easy chair and watch the world go by. If her career is in its waning stages, it’s difficult to see just where. She could be looking at the benefits of retirement, but why? She still manages to cover the court as well or more skillfully than women just out of their teens.

Her earlier fitness was often criticized. The past few years, she seems fit and committed to stay that way. It is good to see that the huffing and puffing has been left behind. For many years, her movement on the court looked body taxing at best. Now, it appears a lot like a Sunday stroll in the park as she deftly moves around the playing surface.

Serena Williams of the USA in action against Andrea Hlavackova of Czech Republic during their first round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 26 May 2015. EPA/YOAN VALAT

Late today, she took to the court to face a Czech player. Andrea Hlavackova is ranked 190 in the world, and even before the two stepped into the spotlight, it seemed like another tick in the win column for Serena. In merely a minute less than an hour, it was all over for Hlavackova. Serena loped to an easy victory with five aces to her credit and a rather ho hum performance that was easily more than enough to take her to Round Two. (Hlavackova does have a few creds, so to speak. She won the Mixed Doubles with Max Mirnyi in 2013 and has two other doubles titles of real note – 2011 Roland Garros and 2013 US Open, both with countrywoman Lucie Hradecka. She has been ranked as high as number three in the world in doubles, but her singles statistics have been relegated to parts unknown for quite a while.)

Williams was smiling as she left the court, anxious to sign a few autographs and smile for the camera. It could be her year, once again. But, even if she wins the big prize, she won’t be the oldest woman to have taken home the trophy. In 1958, Zsuzsi Kormoczy, of Hungary took the honors at just a month older than Serena. Hungary was behind what was referred to as the Iron Curtain and due to travel restrictions played few of the majors during her career. Perhaps that’s why she was a one and done winner here and nearly anywhere else.

Williams will next face Anna-Lena Friedsam who defeated American, Alexa Glatch just minutes after Williams’ victory. Friedsam has never before moved past the first round of a major tournament and it should mean Serena could skate through the second round with another easy victory when they face off.

Luck was with the day. It didn’t rain. After the matches, the clouds remain. It was a good day for tennis. The birds, who’ve taken back the trees after the crowds have gone for the day, are cooing in agreement. Tomorrow will bring what it always does – a little of this and a little of that. But, mostly, it will bring another helping of exciting tennis.

Topics: Cheryl Jones, French Open, Paris, RG15, Roland Garros 2015, Tennis News

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May 26, 2015 at 4:13 pm

GOALS AND QUESTS – TODAY’S CHERYL JONES STORY – http://t.co/9Vy6Fpkne9 @rolandgarros #FrenchOpen #RolandGarros #RG2015 @serenawilliams