Serena Williams Has Already Made History; Margaret Court Has 11 GrandSlams Compared To Serena’s 23.

Serena Williams Holds The World Record For The Most Grand Slam Wins In The History of Professional & Open Tennis; Margaret Court Has 11 Grand Slams, Compared To Serena’s 23. 

Following Serena’s Williams defeat to Azarenka last night at the semi finals of the US Open, D’Arcy Maine of ESPN and many other mainstream media pundits Posit post match commentaries that obscure and question Serena Williams’ position in history as someone who has already made history. D’arcy writes 

“with all the strange circumstances surrounding the US Open, it might have been Serena’s best chance to Make history.... “ 

But, her best chances .... to do what? To equal or Break Margaret Court? That’s an Absolute Lie. Serena does not need to chase something that is an illusion. If so we are deluding ourselves in believing or thinking that a mark or place exist to be reached and or broken when in reality it is a creation of mind and reason so as to satisfy a void need or a standard of reason or life. Serena does not need to satisfy the status quo who have forced a phantom in people’s and Serena’s mind that she must now reach number 24 in order to realize history in a sport that was exclusive to the “status quo” and exclusive from people like Serena. So it is quite reasonable to consider that the mark would have to be extended less the weird and unusual happens that a Black person holds the record in a white sport. 

But Serena has already made history when she surpassed Steffi Graf gaining a record 23 slams in the Open Era. 24 is not a record breaking goal. Margaret really only has 11 grand slams. The other 13 never counted before Serena as that era of tennis was the closed era of tennis where only a few amateur or casual privileged players competed. That was because tennis, prior to 1968, largely remained close to its royal and aristocratic roots by remaining a strictly amateur sport for most of its existence for the status quo and their champions.  The "Open Era" began in 1968 when Grand Slam tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete with amateurs.[65] Before 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in Grand Slam tournaments and other events organized or sanctioned by the ILTF, including the Davis Cup. 

So it is important to have the right story and perspective regarding Serena’s tennis history. It is not to be overshadowed or confused by Margaret Court’s number 11 plus the 13 she gained in an era that does not and never could compare with Serena’s 23. Whenever you speak of Courts 24 slams it is always to be put in proper context and view less it interferes with and obscure the record of history and reality. Margaret Court has 11 grand slams, compared to Serena’s 23. Serena holds the World Record for the Most Grand slam wins in the history of Professional and open tennis. 

Yet many still question or obscure Serena’s record breaking position in tennis history by always telling a story of her recent defeats as a failure to break history. Whose history or record? The false and fake one set by Margaret Court. 

I posted a another recently discussing this same issue which will provide more context and color to this story. You may ciew it here or follow it below as I copied and pasted the entire blog post below this link
Question: Before Serena Williams, Who Was The Greatest Female Tennis Player Of All Time?

http://renaldocmckenzie.blogspot.com/2020/09/question-before-serena-williams-who-was.html

See content below: 

Question: Before Serena Williams, who was the greatest female tennis player of all times? Staffi Graf, who had 22 grand slams in the open era. 

And after Steffi Graf who passed her to become the greatest female tennis player of all time? Serena, absolutely not. One would think that it’s Serena with her 23 slams, but it’s Margaret Court. 

Margaret Court, who? Yes Margaret Court from Australia who played in the 60’s and 70’s and won 24 grand slams; but only 14 in the open era. Since Serena reached 23 grand slams, overtaking Steffi, suddenly the goal post was pushed further to 24 and the  conversation regarding the WTA GOAT was changed back to Margaret Court where they now included her 10 she gained in the closed era where only 8 privileged persons were allowed to play championship or slam tennis. 

Do you see what’s happening here? How is it that Steffi was regarded as the WTA GOAT after she surpassed Martina Navratilova who had 18 slams in the Open Era; But we struggle to accord that same accolade to Serena after she broke Steffi? 

Is it because she’s black? It would seem the logical answer as that’s the one denominator that separates these women... Serena is Black while Chrissy, Martina, Steffi and Court are all white!  It it is always the case with Black people in this white privileged world: Nothing comes with hard work, we must work even harder and push deeper as the expectations are greater compared to that of their white brothers and sisters. 

If you’re white and don’t understand and don’t know what I mean. Please refer to my article as a plausible suggestion: 

“O.K Then, Let’s Switch Seats, And See How You Like It!”

http://renaldocmckenzie.blogspot.com/2020/09/ok-then-lets-switch-seats-and-see-how.html
See post contents below: 

“Until you can sit in my seat and see how uncomfortable I am you won’t know how impossible and difficult a request you’re making of me to adjust a little bit further”.

This principle I re-discovered and was reminded of while thinking. So I penned it on paper just yesterday as I sat in my car with 3 of my home boys in the park up Lemon Hill in Philadelphia. We were Chillin looking over the center of the city in my 4-door BMW 3 series X-Drive Turbo Sports Car. It’s really nice and fast! And provides tremendous comforts but not when you have 4 dudes all Chilln in da car simultaneously all in “heaven”. 

Now, one of my guys sitting behind me in the passenger seat kept complaining how I needed to adjust my seat forward because he’s uncomfortable. But I was equally experiencing discomfort, and the front seat had felt and seemed unusually tight. So I made a slight and marginal adjustment so as to get the seat further away from the dashboard and to make it less tight. 

He became respectfully irate and started to say that I had enough space, why would I need anymore and that he is a little taller and needed more space than he already has. Mark you, he’s not much taller at all not even 5 ft 11. Nevertheless I acquiesced and reverted the seat to its original position. 

But then I started thinking. You know I should switch seating positions with him and see how he likes it. So I suggested this to him, “let’s switch seats”? 

He gladly accepted thinking that he’d be much more comfortable; but I knew he would’ve been more uncomfortable than he was with the seat set at the same position or setting I had it.

So we exchanged seats. I came out and he followed getting into the front and I into the back. I was right. Wow! It was like sitting at the front of a plane in first class with the ability to slouch in the seat with room to spare. I liked it. He on the other hand was surprised at his finding and discovery that the front at its set position that I had it was not at all a day in the park or more perfect than his position at the back seat. It was as if he’d “jumped out of the frying pan and landed in fire”. 

In fact, By getting out of his seat to sit in my seat he came to the realization that he was wrong and that his demands were impossible. Moreover, he had much more luxury at the back I found as he only wanted me to adjust so that he could splurge and relax some more. In effect. he wanted me to give up some of my luxuries which he had perceived I had to gain more he’d perceived he didn’t have. 

While sitting at the back for sometime now, I eventually told him he could adjust his seat and bring it a bit further back. He was relieved. But you see how things go, but so goes life.

Some think and assume that the BLM protest for change are misplaced as their demands are unfair and critique misguided. Black lives are not that bad and black lives do matter like any other race they say. In fact they are asking for more and too much some argue. They had Barack Obama, Civil Rights and wealthy stars, what more do they want. In fact we have given up more than enough to their excesses. And now we must defund or reform the police so that we can allow civil unrest and so that they can be free to commit crime. 

In fact some reason that police violence is targeted on white people as much as blacks, and whites are just as uncomfortable with police brutality. 

Until you play black for one day... and then your white privileges go away and suddenly you find yourself at the back of the line; you find yourself “second class citizens” whose positions make you open to all sorts of “violence”. 

For Unless we get out from our comfort zones and put ourselves in their (Blackpeople) (perceived) “comfort zone” we will never understand how incredible and ridiculous our expectations of others are and how uncomfortable their zones really are. until you step into the realities of their lives you will want to be on the side putting down the other man’s discomfort and promoting more efforts to restrict and stifle their position. 

It is by getting up out of ones seat and preconceived notions and set positions and political lens and entering the position of the other with all deliberation of self and intensity of will with all  the suffering and pain that comes with being black in America and the circumstances of violence and deprivation that comes with it will make sense to the other. No matter how many few blacks glorified that you show to rebuff this reality, it is not enough or does not compare with the plethora of the opposite.