London 2012 Olympics: Serena Williams insists tennis belongs at the Games

By RUSSELL GREAVES
Published on 07/08/2012 01:13

History-maker Serena Williams is in no doubt that tennis belongs in the Olympic Games after adding two more gold medals to her impressive collection in London.

The 30-year-old achieved the unprecedented feat of completing the career golden slam in singles and doubles – meaning she has won all four grand slams and Olympic gold medals in both disciplines.

After easing past Maria Sharapova in the singles on Saturday, she teamed up with sister Venus on Sunday to win a third doubles title and secure another entry into the record books.

Having now won four Olympic titles, Williams, currently ranked four in the world, insisted her sport deserves its place in the greatest show on Earth.

“Tennis really belongs in the Olympics,” she said. “We are athletes just as all these other amazing athletes are. We work every day of our lives to have our moments that we have in tennis. To come to the Olympics is amazing and to have the chance to play and be mentioned along with all the athletics greats and all the swimming greats, all the gymnastic greats – it just means so much.

“There are so many great tennis players that deserve to have a gold medal around their necks, deserve to have an event at the Olympics and come and compete and have the chance to compete for what I think is the biggest prize there is for athletes – a gold medal.”

At the end of her 6-0, 6-1 hammering of Sharapova, Williams’ joy was evident as she danced a merry jig on Centre Court, where she has already won five Wimbledon titles.

Save for winning all four slams in one year, there seems little else left for Williams to achieve, but her motivation to compete and joy at winning remains as strong as ever, perhaps even heightened following her recovery from a hematoma and a pulmonary embolism last year.

“I was so happy to just win,” she said. “From where I was, to come back and win this was such an amazing thing for me. You could just see on my face, even on the stand I couldn’t stop moving my legs, I couldn’t stop smiling. Words can’t describe how satisfying that was. When I’m happy, I dance.”

Being immersed in the Olympic experience has added to Williams’ contented mood, affording her the opportunity to share her achievements with others, while revelling in theirs.

“It was such a good feeling to go in the locker room and see whether someone besides Venus had won or not,” she added. “I was looking for the whole American team, both men and women. You’re playing for the whole team, the whole country. There are team meetings, team get-togethers and team dinners.

“I’ve kept saying we should do this for every grand slam. All the countries should get together and play all the other countries. It would be so fun. I really enjoyed it.”

For anyone on the women’s tour hoping the American is ready to step aside and make their chances of grand slam and Olympic glory a little easier, Williams had some bad news.

“I plan on being there (at the Rio 2016 Olympics), unless an act of God doesn’t allow me to. If it’s God’s will, I will be there,” she confirmed.

“I’ve always thought that when I feel like I’m not doing my best or playing my best, or I feel like I can’t be the greatest, then I probably shouldn’t play any more. Right now I feel like I’m competing with everyone else out there pretty solid. I feel like I belong, I’m not tired, I’m enjoying myself, I’m having so much fun. I don’t see an end for me at all.”

Related Articles

• Exhausted Djokovic on song after going to hell and back in final

  Novak Djokovic dispensed with the band and the raucous dressing-room celebrations. After the longest final in a Grand Slam, it was only fitting that he put on a solo act and then pulled the curtains on another Australian Open.

  0 Comments

• Williams sisters: Is anyone for tennis?

  SINCE they exploded onto the scene in the mid-Nineties, Venus and Serena Williams have held the tennis world in their thrall. Their powerful, record-breaking serves and physical presence lent them an aura of invincibility that has allowed them to dominate - and alter forever - the women’s game.