Serena Williams after her 2015 Wimbledon triumph
Serena Williams has been named Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsperson of the Year,” and, predictably, all Hades has broken loose.
Let’s forget those who voted successfully for American Pharoah in the fans’ poll. I voted for AP, though I knew SI staffers would never give the award to a four-legged athlete. (No word from the Pharoah on any residual disappointment. Given his lovely demeanor, my guess is he’s already tweeted Serena his congrats on his big new iPhone. So much easier to type on with hooves.)
Would that his two-legged counterparts were as gracious. That SI picked a tennis player other than Novak Djokovic sent up red flags among those who saw reverse prejudice. True, Serena had a higher winning percentage this season than Nole by about one percent, but, fans pointed out, he played 30 more matches, against tougher opponents. After she lost in the semifinals of the US Open, she absented herself from the women’s tour for the rest of the season. After he lost in the finals of the French Open, he went on to win Wimbledon, the US Open, the China Open, the Shanghai and the Paris Masters, and the Barclay ATP World Tour Finals. He lost two finals – to Roger Federer in Cincy and Andy Murray in Montreal.
Is it true, though, that because Nole is a white Serbian male he had no chance at the award and that Serena won because she is an African-American woman? Or is it possible that the SI staff saw a grace under pressure from Serena in her pursuit of the Grand Slam that Nole was spared because Stan Wawrinka took him out of the hunt for tennis’ Holy Grail midway by beating him in the French? A heartbroken Nole – yes, I think we can assume certain emotions based on players’ reactions without knowing them personally – wept as fans at Roland Garros in Paris gave him a standing ovation after he lost to Stanimal. They did so out of compassion for one who wanted something so badly, went at it for two weeks – and still came up short.
But that loss freed Nole. The thing he wanted most eluded him, and he responded not by shrinking but by opening like a flower.
Serena, in contrast, saw the pressure build, not ease. After her victory dance with Nole at the Wimbledon Ball, I thought, She’s got a lock on this. She seemed playful, wearing the pressure lightly.
But all the air seemed to be taken out of her balloon at those early US Open press conferences in New York. She looked weary, and I thought, it’s not going to happen. She’s not going to do it.
When she lost to an inspired Roberta Vinci in the second of the two women’s rescheduled semifinals – after Simona Halep was upset by Flavia Panetta, the eventual winner, talk about an omen – I was as shocked as everyone else. But not surprised.
Is the “Sportsperson of the Year” award a reward for all the prejudice and pressure she’s endured as an African-American woman? The one thing that is clear is that we in America cannot get beyond race and gender – not as long as we continue to treat people unequally. And speaking of gender and inequality, I must state the obvious: Would Nole have been posed sexily on the cover? Would he have allowed himself to be so? True, he’s stripped down to a Speedo for Vogue. But this is an award from a sports magazine. In general, we still expect women to carry the sex symbol ball in our society.
Given that Serena and Nole are both fiery champs with big hearts for others, Nole deserved it more on merit. But Serena put up with more.
If that’s reverse prejudice, well, then, maybe we can eliminate it by eliminating prejudice altogether.