Venus and Serena Williams Setting The Standard…AGAIN!

Former Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters has lauded Venus and Serena Williams for setting the trend of limited schedules to prolong their careers. Though the Williams sisters copped a lot of stick from the tennis fraternity in their initial years for the decision to pick and choose events, the trend did catch on in a big way in the later years.

The conversation started after Amanda Guinzburg, a writer for the New Yorker, drew reference to Rafael Nadal’s decision to withdraw from this year’s Wimbledon Championships and the Tokyo Olympics to suggest that it was Naomi Osaka who showed the way on how to prolong one’s career. Clijsters said that Osaka had started a welcome trend of listening to one’s body before deciding what and how much to play.
Tagging Nadal’s tweet, announcing his withdrawal from the two marquee events, Guinzburg wrote, “Seems to me that Naomi Osaka started a very healthy trend of listening to one’s body.”

However, former Australian tennis star Rennae Stubbs corrected the writer in reply to her tweet, saying, “It’s been happening for a while.”
A tennis fan was more forthright in her reply to the journalist, as she recalled how Venus and Serena were run down initially for playing selective tournaments and it turned into a fad later, a certified way for players to keep themselves fit and firing for longer.

Joining the conversation, Clijsters said the present-day athletes, including Osaka. are benefitting from a stand the siblings took long back.
Replying to Guinzburg’s tweet, the four-time Grand Slam champion said it is precisely because of the shape that the Williams sisters wanted their careers to take that the tennis world is still able to savor the sight of them in action.

Tagging former Australian tennis star Rennae Stubbs to her reply, Clijsters wrote, “Venus and Serena started it I think…got a lot of shit for it but it’s the reason why we are still able to enjoy their tennis. No Stubbsy?”
To that, the former Aussie star replied, “100% Kimmy”

In both the men’s and women’s fields of the game, selective schedules have almost become the order of the day, especially when it comes to playing high-intensity matches in the new normal.