The Grand Slam debate

Tennis: Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic have the opportunity, ability and desire to go all the way

The women’s final between Serena Williams and Carla Suárez Navarro at the Miami Open was predictably brutal and mercifully brief. Suárez Navarro, a sweet-natured Spaniard, is the same woman Williams routed, 6-0, 6-0, in the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2013.

The score was 6-2, 6-0 this time, which the 12th-seeded Suárez Navarro conceded was an improvement but which any ticket holders who had braved the Miami traffic to make it to their seats must have had difficulty seeing in the bright light.

At least the fans kept the midday sun exposure to a minimum and were able to make it on time for the beachwear fashion show that was about to start elsewhere on the grounds.

This was clearly a nightmare matchup for Suárez Navarro, which put her in fine company with all the other hardworking players who have been overwhelmed by Williams through the decades.

Suárez Navarro’s vulnerable second serve was there for the pounding, and her elegant strokes required more time to prepare than the top-seeded Williams was prepared to allow.

But perhaps it is best not to dwell too much on the foregone conclusion and on Williams’ eighth singles title in Miami. It is much more fun to get ahead of ourselves — perhaps way ahead of ourselves.

Williams has achieved a great deal in her 33 years and has been making up for lost titles in this dominant late phase of her career. But the Grand Slam is still out there.

Williams did win all four major titles in a row in 2002 and 2003, but she has never completed the calendar-year Grand Slam — and has never even won the first two major titles, the Australian Open and the French Open, in the same year.

Still, she is 18-0 so far in 2015 (with one withdrawal), and watching her fight past third-seeded Simona Halep in a classic match and overwhelm Suárez Navarro in a dud made it clear that she has the will and the skill to run the table as she chases Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. (Williams is now at 19).

“We’ll see,” said her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. “Listen, if she wants to get to 23, 24, 25 Grand Slam singles titles, she had better not miss occasions.”

Could this be the year? Sure, it could. Will it be the year? The odds are, of course, against it. No woman has completed a Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988, no man since Rod Laver in 1969.

“Obviously, anyone that wins the Australian Open wants to win a Grand Slam,” Williams said without so much as an arched eyebrow. “I’ve won the Australian Open six times, and I have not done that yet. I’m not saying this is the year or not the year. Who knows?”
Her off days can be hard to predict. Injuries are always a concern, but even at this stage of her career, she is improving. With the help of racket and string technology, she is creating sharper angles. Her volleys, although still not works of art, have become more consistent. Her single-handed backhand chip is generally crisper and more versatile, as evidenced by the lunging back-to-the-net winner she hit down the line on a crucial point against Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals.

“She can play offence, obviously, but now the defence has gotten better,” Martina Navratilova said after handing Williams the trophy in Key Biscayne. “She’s as eager as ever, and it’s been really cool to see. It’s great to see somebody want it that badly, to do everything they can possibly do to be the best they can be. I really respect that from her. She’s been doing that the last three years remarkably well.”

It is also remarkable that Williams is not the only singles player with a reasonable chance at a Grand Slam this year. Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open and has been winning convincingly, even on off nights. At 27, he is in his prime and well aware that although he is unlikely to catch Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal in Grand Slam singles titles, he could elevate himself to a category all his own in this era by winning the Grand Slam.
“That would be the thing that could springboard him into pop culture, sporting lexicon and all that iconic stuff,” Justin Gimelstob, John Isner’s coach, said. “And I truly believe he’s capable of doing it.”

No man has managed to win even the first two legs of the Grand Slam since Jim Courier in 1992 — a strange statistic in light of the dominant players who have worked the circuit since then.

The French Open’s red clay is the biggest culprit. Pete Sampras was never at home on it. Nadal has been too at home on it for everyone else’s good, but he has won the Australian Open just once. That was in 2009, which turned out to be the year he lost for the first (and only) time at the French Open.

Count out Nadal this season at your peril, particularly if he stays healthy through the European spring. Djokovic has paid his dues in Paris and then some, but he seems to be gathering strength as Nadal searches for it.

Djokovic has had some shaky moments this year, figuratively and literally (remember his trembling hands on a changeover en route to beating Federer last month in the final in Indian Wells, California.). But he is 25-2 after his final win in Miami over Andy Murray, a great hard-court player whom Djokovic has beaten an astounding ten times in a row on hard courts.

Still, it is clay that will weigh heaviest this spring, and if Djokovic can win for the first time at Roland Garros — it is the only major title he has not won — then the Grand Slam discussion and pressure will begin in earnest.

For now, such chatter is only for the early birds, even if it is chatter delivered from a solid platform.

“There are just so many things that have to go right,” Navratilova said. “It’s certainly not a probability, but it’s definitely a possibility.”