Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Deconstructing Serena Williams’ comeback press conference

Before winning her first match in 11 months, Serena Williams met the press in Eastbourne for a wide-ranging press conference that discussed her attitude toward the game, the recent injuries and what she did during her year away from tennis. Busted Racquet picked the five most interesting quotes from the interview.

1.�"I'm definitely still going to get really serious about line calls - I probably won't make the same threats though. I pretty much learned that lesson. My attitude hasn't changed. I still cracked a couple of racquets in practice. But that's good.

Context and tone are important here and because I only read a transcript of the interview it's impossible to pass judgment on how Serena meant this. That doesn't mean I'm not going to anyway. She probably won't make the same threats? Does that mean she's going to suggest new places to shove the ball down? And she only pretty much learned that lesson? The takeaway from that incident should have been clearer than the message at the end of a "Full House" episode. Cracking racquets is good. Why I am using so much italics?

2. On how this injury isn't like past ones -- "This is totally different because I've had some serious health problems and was literally on my deathbed."

I think she means figuratively.

3. "I had two surgeries so close to each other and was in a cast for 20 weeks - I was debating whether I'd rather be in jail for 20 weeks or a cast, and I was leaning towards jail because I really hated that cast."

I think she means figuratively.

4. On what she did with her free time -- "I went to a lot of Dolphins games, then I went to a bunch of Miami Heat games."

Between them, Serena and LeBron James have 13 titles.

5. "I'm hoping I can peak at Wimbledon, hopefully in the second week, and hopefully I'll get there. I'm just taking everything one day at a time and not putting too many expectations on myself or on my game.�Most of all I'm just happy to be in competition."

And we're thrilled you're there, Serena. Literally.

Shiri Appleby Kelly Hu Michelle Rodriguez Mena Suvari Georgina Grenville

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