Something strange happened in San Jose, California this week. Serena Williams, the undeniable GOAT of women’s tennis, suffered the most lopsided defeat of her 20+ year career, losing 1-6, 0-6 to Britain’s Johanna Konta. If this had happened in Serena’s first tournament back after having a baby, we could rationalize the loss by saying she was rusty after many months away from competition, or that she was still adjusting to the profound physical changes that pregnancy and childbirth can have on the human body. But it wasn’t Serena’s first tournament back, and it would be hard to argue that she’s still finding her form after making it to the finals of Wimbledon just a few weeks ago. While we may never know what factors influenced Serena’s uncharacteristic loss, I’m willing to speculate that it had a lot to do with what’s now her most important title: Mom.
What makes Serena Williams such an amazing competitor is her ability to be laser-focussed on achieving success, no matter what’s going on in a match or off the court. Whether it’s being behind in a match or coming back from an injury or dealing with incessant speculation about her career and legacy, Serena has the rare on-court ability to be in the present moment and to tune out any distraction that doesn’t directly help her win. But then there’s that universal trump card called Parenthood. As I discussed in another post, most tennis players lead very regimented lives and have fairly predictable routines that allow them to perform at their very best. Put a baby into the equation, and everything changes. Most parents would probably agree that, for better or worse, having a child turns one's life upside down. Routines get broken. Selfish goals go on the back burner. The new life in the family becomes the priority. And even for athletes like Serena who have the grit and discipline to get back to peak form and the resources to hire an army of nannies, being a parent isn’t something one can compartmentalize like training or diet or press conferences. Parenthood is all-consuming; it permeates (and sometimes conflicts with) every aspect of life, including career. There are a thousand and one things that can preoccupy a parent but, for the sake of argument, let’s imagine that Serena was dealing with something all new parents go through: a teething infant. Teething can be very painful and lead to many sleepless nights for babies and their parents. Now imagine Serena, sleep deprived, worried about her daughter, potentially feeling guilty for being away from home, having to tune it all out and focus exclusively on a tennis match for two hours. It’s just not possible...for anyone. Any parent would be distracted and feel off their game in that situation, and Serena Williams is no exception.
So does this mean that Serena Williams or any other athlete can’t compete at the highest level if they have children? Not at all. I fully expect Serena to go on winning titles and breaking records. But, with motherhood, we may see her evolve into a different type of athlete – one whose focus may not be shatterproof; one who may have more frequent “off” days and even a few more shocking losses like the one we saw this week; one who shows us that sometimes the things that are important to us need to take a back seat to the people who are important to us.
Comments