“Not a human rights issue,” Andre Agassi didn’t hold back speaking during Serena Williams’ fight with WTA over seeding at Wimbledon
Andre Agassi once backed Serena Williams for receiving seeding in the Wimbledon 2018 and derided WTA for its objections.
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Andre Agassi and Serena Williams (Image Credit: FirstSportz)
Serena Williams is one of the greatest athletes of all time and a role model for millions of women. Throughout her career, she has always been ranked higher in the singles rankings. But there came a time when she was ranked very low.
Serena Williams when returned to the tour after giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr. in September 2017, found out that she is no longer one of the top players on the tour. At the French Open 2018, she was also not seeded. The reason for this was given that the players who return to the tour after giving birth can have their rankings protected but their actual seedings are not protected.
The controversy was raised when she got a seeding of #25 at Wimbledon 2018 despite being ranked No.183 in the world. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) had given this argument that the (AELTC) do not use player’s current rankings to give them seedings. However, this argument was not well-received by many and they argued that Wimbledon is biased towards Serena Williams.
This incident also caused many to question whether players who return to the tournament after giving birth should deserve a protected seeding or not. The financial news website Business Insider interviewed tennis legend Andre Agassi citing his views on this issue.
“I can’t speak for Serena but I can speak for being a champion on some level, and this isn’t a human rights issue, there should be a right. This is a decision made with full respect to a lot of considerations. One thing I can say on her behalf, that she may hopefully agree with,” Andre Agassi had told.
“She’s here to win. What she’s seeded is not going to determine her winning this event. Will you get an easier draw? Maybe one or two rounds but I got news for ya, the rest of the field is more worried about her being about not seeded than she is,” he continued.
Serena Williams reached the final at Wimbledon. However, she could not win the title as Angelique Kerber defeated her in straight sets.
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Andre Agassi told Steffi Graf was aloof with Serena Williams breaking her record
Steffi Graf is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She held the record of winning the most number of Grand Slam titles by any player in the world for a very long time. She had won 22 Majors in her career.
However, like many records this one too ought to be broken. Serena Williams broke this record and became the player with the most number of Grand Slam titles after she won the 2017 Australian Open. But Andre Agassi told in his interview at that time that it did not matter to his wife Steffi Graf at all.
“It has no relevance in her world. The hardest part of Serena chasing down those numbers was respecting the game. Steffi doesn’t want people to feel she doesn’t care about tennis. She cares but she’s so disconnected. Every time she was asked she felt obligated to put importance on it for the sake of tennis and an incredible champion in Serena,” Andre Agassi had said.
The most incredible part of this triumph was that Serena Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title when she was pregnant. However, this was her career’s last Grand Slam title. She retired after participating in the US Open in 2022.
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Abhar Indorkar
(451 Articles Published)