Was it Naomi Osaka winning and knocking her off for the fact that Serena lost?

I think it's the fact that Serena loss Osaka is special.

She's she's a special talent.

She's a superstar, Um, and and and the world loves her is the deal.

She's 23.

She's gonna be around for a while.

I think we all know that this young lady has beaten Serena Williams.

If I remember correctly the last three times, she has stopped Serena from catching this.

Just just this grant.

This Grand Slam singles title, which would give her 24 which would tie the great Margaret Court.

I mean and make Serena Williams tied for number one all time in Grand Slam singles titles.

She used to go in my mind.

She is to go in your mind.

She's to go in a lot of people's minds.

But I think what you saw with Serena Williams yesterday and tears in terms of her tears and her willingness to depart you can lose and this is just me.

Based on my years of reporting, I've been a reporter for over a quarter century now, just based on reporting and covering champions.

It's one thing to lose and to feel like mortality has kicked in, and it's really shining brightly in your face because of age, attrition, etcetera, etcetera.

But you can still hold on for one more, which I'm hoping Serena Williams will dio because I want.

I really wanted to catch Margaret court at least catcher and win one more Grand Slam title.

Like similar to the sport of golf.

You can fall short for many years and then have one good tournament like Tiger Woods did with the Masters.

Okay, and pull it off and she's just one shy of this.

Not four or five, just one.

So I would if I was her.

I would continue to go for it, and I wouldn't retire yet.

But I think that she's contemplating it strongly, in my opinion, and I think that where you sort of tears coming from is the fact that there is one conspicuous wall standing in her way.

And that's Naomi Osaka.

I mean, you're looking at this young lady and you're like she's 16 years younger than me.

I'm 39.

I'm approaching 40 years of age.

I'm a mom now.

I won a title while I was two months pregnant in 2017 when I won the Australian Open.

I get that, but this is now 34 years later, I'm 39 approaching 40.

I may not be what I used to be any longer, and here is this one consistent wall that's standing in my way that is showing no signs whatsoever of getting out of my way in Naomi Osaka.

And I think that when you have that one conspicuous wall standing in front of you and you can't seem to get over the hump, that's when it becomes a bit more humbling and a bit more difficult to take again.

I'm just speculating I don't cover tennis.

I don't know Serena.

I marvel over her.

I think she's sensational.

Think she's in the goat conversation?

She is spectacular, but it's just that with this one young lady, if she was just losing tournaments here and there, the different people that would be different.

This one girl keep standing in her way time after time after time again, and I think Serena sees that and is like, damn, how am I going to overcome that?

That's just my personal opinion from a far off course, Well, and that's why Osaka is actually the bigger story.

Whatever the media focuses on, we should be focusing on Osaka.

What you just said about Serena, I think, is right on the money, and this is not football like Tom Brady can't beat Patrick Mahomes.

If it's a one on one contest, you get killed bones way better than Brady right now.

But if you have a great offensive line of great defense and then you're a team sport, Tom Brady can lead a team past Mahomes.

Serena, She's got no offensive line she got.

There's no, you know, she's gotta take out my homes one on one.

The old old athlete is not going to do that normally against the great young athlete, but I think that's the reason Osaka's the story.

Stephen A Serena Williams.

As you mentioned, she won the Australian Open in three years ago, four years ago, pregnant?

She's 1 23 singles Grand slam tile, she.

And besides that, however, you want to stack up her career accomplishments against Steffi Graf or Navratilova, whomever her peak is the highest.

If you have the highest peak, and you are among the most accomplishments and the whole thing.

She's the goat.

Everyone knows that.

But she's at this stage in her career.

Right now.

Serena is where it's gravy, meaning when she accomplishes something that that she is accruing greatness right.

It's adding even Mawr to her greatness.

If she loses, it doesn't count against her that had Brady lost the Super Bowl, it wouldn't count against him.

He's 43.

The fact that he even got there was amazing.

Now the fact that he wanted gets him to an even new place.

And, yes, had Serena beat Nosaka, she's in an even greater place.

It is possible for the greatest of all time to achieve even higher levels of greatness and set new standards.

But if they don't do it, it doesn't take away from them.

And Osaka's the story.

Stephen A.

Because you know the highest earning female athlete ever is in a single year.

It was Osaka last year.

She is extremely marketable.

She's also extremely great, already having one multiple singles titles she has and by the way, grew up idolizing Serena and s.

So she's not only marketable and great and has hit number one in the world, and it's still top three and is a woman of color.

By the way she is, she is not even next.

She's now.

She's right now.

And the fact that Serena didn't get past her, she ain't supposed to get past her.

She's old and Osaka is young.

She's not supposed to get past her.

But let me tell you something, Max Kellerman.

Thank goodness you are.

You're not a columnist, because let me tell you something.

You've missed the boat.

Ain't nobody, nobody in women's sports bigger than Serena Way.

Nobody, even the only Osaka take more money last year.

Endorsement.

I'm just talking about what?

The subjects.

The biggest story and I'm saying.

The biggest story is Serena, particularly because she may be contemplating retirement and she may be getting pushed into retirement.

We're looking at Naomi Osaka, and she ain't going anywhere.

She's winning.

She's gonna continue to win.

We all presume she's gonna be around for a long time, and everybody's like her day has arrived in terms of the talent that she is, even from a marketability standpoint.

But when you talk about goat status and things of that nature and the biggest story, you know, The rise of the goat, The fall of the goat.

That's always a bigger story.

And that's where Serena Williams comes in.

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