“The best in the history of women’s tennis,” Pam Shriver hails Serena Williams and digs deep into her Wimbledon prospects on comeback run


“The best in the history of women’s tennis,” Pam Shriver hails Serena Williams and digs deep into her Wimbledon prospects on comeback run

Serena Williams

Serena Williams is definitely one of the greatest players to have played the sport. She has scaled women’s tennis to different heights and even transformed the way women’s tennis is approached. We may also consider her as one of the most impactful players in tennis history. She is all set to come back on the tennis court at Wimbledon next week.

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Serena last played at Wimbledon last year where she slipped on the court in the first round and injured herself. She hasn’t played since then and many even considered her retired due to her age. But she surprised everyone by announcing her return to Wimbledon this year after taking a late wild card. She played doubles at Eastbourne this week with Ons Jabeur to get some match practice and the duo made it to the semifinals.

22-time grand slam doubles champion Pam Shriver recently spoke about Serena to PickWise. Shriver talked about Serena playing doubles at Eastbourne and said that one couldn’t judge her singles game by the way she played in doubles. She added that if Serena can anywhere play close to her 2017 level, given that she has the best serve in women’s tennis history, she could inflict some serious damage at Wimbledon.

“It’s interesting that she’s playing doubles at Eastbourne. I don’t think that we’ll learn too much because we won’t see her full-court movement, but her serve still looks beautiful. In doubles, you don’t always serve your hardest, it’s about getting first serves in and adding more spin. She looks good so far, but she’s had a full year out at the age of 40. If the arm is firing at 2017 levels, and she’s tough to break on serve- it’s the best serve in the history of women’s tennis,” Shriver said.

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She even said that given her draw, Serena can make it to the second week but from there on, she will have to beat some of the best players in the world. “She could push into the second week granted a decent draw, but that could prove the key she could have to face Swiatek or any of the other top players. There won’t be any draw protection for her, but I think that’s probably the least of her worries,” she said.

‘She wants to figure out if there’s still a way to win that 24th Grand Slam’: Pam Shriver on Serena Williams’ comeback

Serena Williams
Serena Williams

She recalled the day when Serena announced her return. Shriver was obviously very happy and excited since there were no signs of her coming back. She concluded by saying that ranking points don’t matter for Serena, she just wants to win the much-awaited 24th grand slam title.

“When I woke up and found out that she was competing at Wimbledon, I thought ‘great!’- I didn’t think it would happen. There were no signs of it on social media, and it caught me off guard. The ranking points don’t matter, she wants to figure out if there’s still a way to win that 24th Grand Slam, and grass is her best opportunity,” she said.

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Also Read: Alexis Ohanian reminisces about the adorable first meeting with Serena Williams before her Wimbledon 2022 campaign