‘DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE’: Serena Williams, left, at U.S. Open, and Venus Williams, right, at Wimbledon, early in their careers.
War dims memories, so let’s remember:
Three days before hijackers blew a hole in America’s confidence on 9/11/01, Venus and Serena Williams scaled the peak of tennis.
In prime time the sisters slugged it out, not before the Queen but In Queens.
Watching at home on TV, some thought the sisters were only going through the motions. But inside the stadium, especially during the second set, it was slam-bang tennis; two superb athletes going toe-to-toe.
When it was over (and Venus won our hearts with cheerful comments) a warm glow filled the stands.
Ed Bradley of CBS News 60 Minutes said: “To go from a lilly white sport played at country clubs to having two black women play for the national championship in a stadium named for Arthur Ashe, that’s pretty special.”
It was a moment we all could feel good about tennis.
Bradley smiled when a reporter sitting next to him remarked: “Such a delicious chocolate,” referring to the combatants, whose beautiful dark skin glistened with achievement. The final score: Venus defeated Serena, 6- 2, 6-4 and with it, captured her second consecutive U.S. Open women’s singles trophy.
For the next 48 hours, the sisters’ pictures flashed across the globe on electronic wings. Then, in the 9/11 burst of exploding jet fuel, their images and sport vanished in a blaze of shock.
As we pass the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, let’s not forget what happened that night elsewhere in New York. Let’s remember Ed Bradley’s remark. It was, indeed “pretty special.”
On the eve of an attack that dragged America into its longest war, two great athletes broke through the shackles of racism to cover themselves with glory.
— John Martin
This article first appeared in ATR 17, Vol 3, No 7, 2001. (at the top of page 2)