British

The naysayers have entered the fray.

They have the noose at hand, first for Roger and now Serena. Off to retirement they should go, to this mob that would be okay. Be careful, the critics may get their way.

Both are past it, they say. So convinced have they become that they risk being entrenched in the blasé, overlooking two fine careers and what are still two outstandingly good players.

Thirty, it is too old to be so bold as to believe that a career in the mould of the physical could continue to take hold.

Thirty... that’s right, thirty – the cynics want them out – Roger, Serena, they’re so old hat, could it be that a career or two has finally been beckoned by earth’s end?

What do you reckon?

Yes, they should go. . . WHAT.

Noooooo . . . it is not true I tell you, NOT true. Didn’t you see the American up against Jie Zheng on Saturday? Serena could not have been more magnificent, if not in the mastery of her game, then in the way she fought for all she was worth.

Retirement . . . what repugnance, just the very idea of it.

Let us take this argument to the fold, for there was the youngest of the William’s sisters doing battle with a menacing opponent who thought nothing of spending a good couple of hours sending down a barrage of ground strokes laden with the most barren despondency that Serena could imagine.

Who could blame the thirteen time grand slam winner if she had considered quitting.

Staring her in the face was a force of nature red with fury and ferocious in its intent. A formidable foe, out to take the scalp - a scalp that has done the names of Court, Jean King, Navratilova, Evert and Graf proud - of one of Women’s Tennis’ biggest ever names.

Only a few short weeks ago Williams had lost in the first round of the French Open.

Sure, clay is not her pet surface, but all the same the mental scars had to be there.
Could she do it anymore when there was most certainly a deep reservoir of uncertainty shaking the very roots of her self-belief to its core?

You betcha she could. 9-7 in the third set to the good and a win was there for Serena to saviour.

So please prophets of doom be gone with you. Take your gloom and let us clear the murk away, lavishing the vast rays of the ravishing Wimbledon summer sun upon the career of Serena Williams.

She has so much more to offer, she really does. Past it – yeah right.

There was Serena scrapping it out to the end. There was some good; there was some of the not so good. To be sure it wasn’t her best, but she hung in for the long haul like the champion she is.

By all means critique her performance but to write her off – big mistake.

When the important points came, there was Serena at the door, ready, willing, fully loaded and prepared to send a flurry of verbs hurtling down with a velocity that defied.

She aced it alright; she’ll be back for she is no hack.

For that matter there is a good few years left in this supposedly run down old dame if she so desires.

Now is the time for the great lady to dedicate herself solely to her Tennis, to remind us all of her greatness. Sharapova, Azarenka, Kvitova, now there is a formidable line-up. Chomping at the bit, they're young and hunger for the glory of Grand Slam titles. Energetic and fit, there is only one way to deal with the parasites of opposition; work harder than them.

For Serena the time has come to rise up once again and put the young sasses in their place - their rightful place, that being behind her staring into an undefeatable wall of despair. Yes, there is some mighty talent amongst them, but then she is the mightiest of them all.

Of all tennis folk, Williams knows how the hard times can fall on the unexpecting.

There she was in early 2011, thought to have recovered from a foot injury the previous July, when complications set in.

A blood clot formed in her leg, she nearly died. Fortunately the time was not nigh for Williams to wave goodbye.

Back to full health, the world is a greater place for her presence. What is more, Williams appears to have mellowed. Her dice with death looks to have shown her the way to a more serene outlook on life.

Her on-court demeanour appears to have quietened for the better. Gone is a lot of the grunting, along with what at times has been a rather demonstrative outlook towards officials. Perhaps turning thirty has ushered in a much welcomed maturity, not a fading of her tennis ability.

And now this champion has a chance to leave a legacy over the next couple of years that will not only have her remembered as one of the greats of the game, but completely change the public’s perception of her as a person.