“Everyone always play me at their greatest, so I have to be greater”

 “I remember, I couldn’t even walk to my mailbox. It’s definitely not normal for me to be back in the Wimbledon finals. I’m taking everything as it is and just enjoying every moment.”

Serena has reached a grand slam finals 10 months after a complicated child birth that nearly cost the champion her life.

Yesterday  she dispatched 13th seeded Julia Goerges to reach the finals.

The  fandom has peaked : Super mom, GOAT, the greatest athlete of all times- says the media, fans and critics.
I agree completely, but we are missing something- She is also human, she has failed several times, made sacrifices to be the GOAT that we fan about

She set the bar really high and trained while she was pregnant to stay in form, she wanted to return from birth and win the Australian open again, but that did not happen- she lost several matches

A string of losses:
Four months after giving birth Serena Williams lost at the  Mubadala exhibition event in Dubai to French open champion Jelena Ostapenko. Williams struggled with her serve and Ostapenko won, 6-2, 3-6, and then, 10-5, in a super tiebreaker.

After her uncharacteristic loss, she withdrew from the Australian open which she had won when she was 8 weeks pregnant (smart move, a loss would have been a heavy media circus)

Months later she lost a Fed cup doubles games which she played with her Sister Venus- her husband and daughter were sitting court side as she lost her game

Then in March, she was beaten by Naomi Osaka in Miami opens first round – She was beaten in straight sets.

“I don’t think I am going to rate my performance,” Williams said. “I have had plenty of comebacks- from injuries, from surgeries, but I’ve never had a comeback after actually giving birth to a human being. – Williams after her loss in Dubai

French open was Serena Williams return to form after extensive training

She won three of her games wearing a super woman catsuit- she was to play Maria Sharapova in the fourth round- Everyone was eagerly anticipating the match between these two arch rivals

And yet, much to the chagrin of so many observers, it never happened. Williams had been playing doubles with her sister Venus at Roland Garros, the sisters lost in the round of 16, falling 6-0.  A day later, she withdrew from the singles citing injury (I think she chickened out, the hype for the match with Sharapova was too much)

The objective of this post is not to highlight her fails but to emphasize that she is not the GOAT because she is from MARS. She keeps falling and dusting herself up. She trains hard and made some sacrifices like missing her baby’s first steps

She took her first steps… I was training and missed it. I cried.

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2018

On Saturday, Serena Williams would meet Angelique Gerber to play her 10th Wimbledon final in a battle for her 24th grand-slam.