The original draft of this email was sent to veteran Washington Post sportswriter Liz Clarke, whose coverage of Serena Williams’ latest injury and withdrawal from Wimbledon breathed not a word of the obvious fact that the aging tennis great is no longer sufficiently fit for world-class competition and will only risk additional injuries and undue embarrassment until she announces her overdue retirement. The email was copied to the Wall Street Journal’s Europe-based sports reporter Joshua Robinson, whose same-day story stayed comparably silent, and several notable sports reporters, columnists and television commentators, none of whom, it seems, dare speak the truth.
Dear Ms. Clarke,
It’s become painfully obvious to everyone except Serena Williams, and perhaps her inner circle and an irrational core of die-hard fans, that it’s past time for her to announce gracefully her immediate retirement from competitive tour tennis — even though that means she won’t tie or eclipse Margaret Court’s record for Grand Slam championships.
Her nearly 40-year-old tendons and ligaments can no longer support her considerable body weight [“A slip — and tears fall,” D1, June 30]. And rather than go out on top like Ted Williams with a homerun in his final at-bat, she risks going out like a pathetic palooka who hangs around the fight game too long, absorbing too many blows to the head and then stammering and staggering down Queer Street the rest of his life.
She’s a strong-willed person, of course, and that’s undoubtedly helped make her the historic champion she’s been. But there must be a trusted someone with enough influence to talk some sense into her. Were she to ask for my advice, I’d constructively suggest she get in touch with U.S. Open officials now to begin discreetly planning her retirement announcement and a days-long celebration of her great career during that event later this year.
Going out with dignity should be more important to a true champion than desperately hanging on and making increasingly sad attempts to break a record. Tiger Woods will make a comparable retirement announcement soon enough, so there’s absolutely no shame in accepting the fact that Father Time inevitably closes windows for all of us.
Darren McKinney, Washington, D.C.