Serena denied history / Djokovic makes history

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It was a tale of different stories for the respected numbers one in the men’s and women’s games. 21 grand slam champion Serena Williams was unable to tie Steffi Graf’s 22 major record while Novak Djokovic, a 12-time grand slam champion was able to make history by becoming the first male player since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four grand slams at the same time. Serena lost in straights to Spanish young sensation, Garbine Muguruza 5-7, 4-6. Other than losing the first set and having a hiccup at the end, Novak controlled the entire match beating rival Andy Murray 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. By winning the French, Djokovic now joins Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal as the only players to win all four grand slams.

For Serena Williams, this was her third attempt at trying to tie Graff’s record. Crushing defeats are becoming the norm for Serena, who usually performs her best in the latter stages in grand slams. At last year’s U.S. Open Serena lost to Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the semifinals. At this year’s Australian Open Serena lost in the finals to the German Angelique Kerber. Now at the French, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza prevented Serena from reaching that historical milestone of 22 majors. The defeat didn’t come as a complete surprise since Muguruza defeated Serena comprehensively at the French in 2014 and gave Serena a tough battle in the Wimbledon final last year. However, given Serena’s knack to win despite not playing her best most probably thought Serena would be able to find a way to win. Muguruza didn’t give Serena that chance.

In addition to the stellar play from Muguruza Serena had many challenges to overcome. It was reported prior the finals that Serena was suffering from an abductor injury. However, Serena does not site that as one of her reasons for losing. Serena swatted away that injury, as well as having to play with no days off this week due to the weather, as reasons for her defeat. Serena stated in her post match conference stated “I’m not one to make up excuses and at the end of the day I didn’t play the way I needed to play and she (Muguruza) did.”

Serena now turns her sights to Wimbledon to see if she can tie Graff. Once again Serena will be the favorite given her consistency and the fact that the grass suits her game perfectly but whether or not she actually wins is no guarantee. As exhibited in both the Aussie and French.

As for Djokovic it appears that tennis experts and fans can now include him in the discussion for GOAT. Djokovic is dominating the men’s game and making history with every trophy that he raises in his arms. With Federer succumbing to age and Rafa struggling with injuries the question again is who will step up to stop Djokovic from his title spree? Andy Murray has tried twice this year in grand slams and both times come up short. So for now it seems we can expect to see Djokovic on Sunday afternoons with his arms raised high.