Serena Williams spent a few moments reflecting on her great but tumultuous career after her stirring win over Victoria Azarenka, the first US Open women's final in 17 years to be decided in three sets.
"I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall," she said.
"I have fallen several times. Each time I just get up and dust myself off and I pray, and I'm able to do better or I'm able to get back to the level that I want to be on.
"For me, you see great people like Muhammad Ali, for instance, who is a complete person I have always looked up to in sports. He went to jail for so long and he came back as a champion again. So ... that really defines a champion."
By her own definition then, and indeed by a near unanimous vote, Williams is one of the greatest champions this sport has seen, male or female. There are still a few greats who have more grand slam singles trophies at home than Williams (15 and counting).
Margaret Court (24) is nine ahead of her on the all-time grand slam leader board; Steffi Graf (22), Helen Wills (19), Martina Navratilova (18) and Chris Evert (18) are above her as well. But have they, barring Navratilova perhaps, faced the kind of challenges that Serena has?
Making her first appearance at a professional event in 1995 at the age of 13, Williams has seen it all.
She has experienced the howls of "home" fans at tournaments in the US and the murder of a sister.
There have been plenty of controversies and injuries along the way.
And the question of race has been present right through.
"Because we'd play against [Kim] Clijsters or whoever else, and all these people weren't ready for us to win or they were rooting against us," Serena said on Friday. "It was always strange to me.
"You never know the reasons: because we're black in a white sport? I don't know. But we're the first African-Americans to really dominate in this sport and you can't expect everything to be perfect and whoo-whoo! - like, everyone to be so accepting so fast.
"Maybe things have to grow."
There has been a welcome change on that front this year. Fans at the Arthur Ashe Stadium have stood firmly behind Williams and her older sister, Venus. "The first time I've ever played here that the crowd has been behind me like that," Venus said after her second round loss. "Today I felt American for the first time at the US Open."
The lack of support did not stop the two sisters from winning.
Health and motivation have been the bigger problems in recent times. Eighteen months ago, Serena was diagnosed with a life-threatening pulmonary embolism and subsequently haematoma.
She had earlier missed the second half of 2010 after stepping on broken glass at a restaurant in Munich.
Venus too is battling to overcome Sjogren's syndrome, which causes sever fatigue.
Serena returned to the tour almost a year later, but few thought she would ever reach these stratospheric heights again. The turning point was her first-round loss at the French Open, her earliest loss at a grand slam.
"It's like I gave her a big slap," said France's Virginie Razzano, who defeated Serena in Paris. "I saw her at Wimbledon, and she gave me a very dark look. "Then I saw her again here, and you know what? She's still bitter. Either she drops her eyes, or she looks at me, and the look basically says, 'I can't wait to play you again, and this time I will take my revenge'."
If her performance since Paris is an indication, that defeat has certainly jolted Williams out of her comfort zone.
She has won the Wimbledon and US Open titles and the Olympic singles gold since.
"As much as I hate to lose, sometimes it's good for my game and my motivation," Williams said. "So I think, for sure, that loss helped me. I have never been so miserable after a loss."
According to Billie Jean King, a former tennis star who often counsels Serena, there are other reasons as well. "I think she's very appreciative of her good health now with what she went through and also what her sister is going through," King said.
"And she is maturing as a person, and you start to appreciate things in a different way as you grow."
Williams is certainly loving her tennis at the moment and has no plans to retire any time soon, although she turns 31 later this month.
"Even though I'm 30, I feel so young," she said.
"I've never felt as fit and more excited and more hungry. With Andy [Roddick] gone and Kim [Clijsters] leaving, it made me feel like I need to stay. For the game. For this generation. I'm healthy. I'm fine. I'm playing pretty good. Why not?"
arizvi@thenational.ae
Pari
Produced by: Clean Slate Films (Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma) & KriArj Entertainment
Director: Prosit Roy
Starring: Anushka Sharma, Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor, Mansi Multani
Three stars
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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2252 – Dh 50
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6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
THREE
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Vines - In Miracle Land
Two stars
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
Upcoming games
SUNDAY
Brighton and Hove Albion v Southampton (5.30pm)
Leicester City v Everton (8pm)
MONDAY
Burnley v Newcastle United (midnight)
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Norwich 0
Watford 2 (Deulofeu 2', Gray 52')
Red card: Christian Kabasele (WatforD)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
