Wimbledon 2012: Serena Williams Must Win in London to Silence Critics

Serena Williams must unleash the beast.

Williams is one of, if not the most physically gifted women’s tennis players of all time. She not only has the athleticism, but the talent to impose her will on the opposition and she’s done so for a whopping 13 singles, 12 doubles and two mixed doubles Grand Slam championships. But to silence her critics and hold off Father Time, Williams must give fans a flashback to her days of dominance in the 2012 Wimbledon.

Leo Schlink of the Herald Sun reported that retirement isn’t on the 30-year-old Williams’ radar. Well, at least she doesn’t believe so. She said going into the London Slam which she’s won four times: “I have no intention of stopping.”

For an athlete that’s been forced to overcome so much physical adversity to be where she is today, her never-quit attitude isn’t the least bit surprising. Even more impressive than her comeback following multiple foot operations, Rod Cherner of the USA Today reported in March of 2011 that Williams suffered a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs. But that couldn’t stop her either.

Having returned to the game after hurdling all of those obstacles, Williams explained why she isn’t even contemplating retirement at this point in her career. She said (via Herald Sun):

“I enjoy being out there on the court so much. I love competing. I love the challenge. I love holding up trophies.”

But as impressive as Williams’ determination has been throughout her career, it hasn’t been enough in recent Grand Slams. She hasn’t held up a major trophy since the 2010 French Open. While Williams boasts victories in four singles tournaments in the past two years, at this point in her career, an emphasis on winning anything and everything has to have been shifted to triumphing in the big four.

Ranked the No. 6 player in the world, is Williams done competing if she falls short again at Wimbledon? No, but let’s just say another tally in the loss column wouldn’t increase optimism that she’s capable of adding to her historic Grand Slam total.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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