Serena Williams earned her popularity. She was a pillar of tennis for more than two decades, and after a layoff of more than three years, she has returned. First, she played doubles. At Wimbledon, she is maybe playing singles and doubles.
Her comeback was the story at the beginning of the major, as it should have been. People wanted to see her return and hopefully do well. After not playing singles in years, though, a bit of rust would be assumed. She is also 44 years old, and no matter how great a player is, time eventually wins out.
But after the novelty of her first match (a three-set loss to 20-year-old Maya Joint) wore off, the tournament should have done a bit of a reset. Even if Williams had won her first match, she would have been a great story, but she shouldn't have been bigger than the sport.
Wimbledon appears to be giving Serena Williams preferential treatment
Wimbledon is treating her that way, and Williams is clearly fine with it. After the match with Joint, she skipped the required media session. The reason was that she had suffered a minor knee injury during the first set against Joint, and she needed medical assistance. Skipping a talk with the media is rare, but injuries sometimes do come into play.
Still, Williams was healthy enough to keep playing two more sets after her knee issue, so how injured she was will never be known.
Wimbledon then went out of its way again to help Serena Williams prepare for her doubles match. She is scheduled to partner with her sister, the great Venus Williams, and was initially thought to be playing on Thursday, but at least on Friday.
She hasn't withdrawn from the event, but the grass-court major is assisting her drive to play, whereas the same would likely not happen with most, if any, other players. Sure, Serena Williams is going to bring eyeballs to screens, which helps with how much money the tournament brings in, which, in turn, can help with ad revenue, but at some point, she is trying to do what everyone else is.
That is to win Wimbledon, whether that be in singles or doubles. Other players have to grind out matches and move on to their next scheduled day to play. If the Serena and Venus match is played (and Serena doesn't withdraw because of the knee issue), they will play their first-round match on Saturday, the same day that other doubles teams are playing the first day of the second round.
Maybe the doubles match doesn't happen, and Serena withdraws. The preferential treatment was already done, however, and the stain of treating others unfairly will remain.
Would any other player get the same luxury as the 39-time (total) Grand Slam winner? She's an all-time great player, of course, but Wimbledon should not be given her opportunities that other players wouldn't get when everyone is in London to try to win a title. Giving help only to Serena Williams is unfair to other players working just as hard to get the ultimate victory.
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