Currently, Serena Williams is going through a crisis in her career as she hasn’t won a Grand Slam title for over five years. Interestingly, she faced a similar situation before the 2007 season when she faced a Grand Slam drought.

Around this time, American tennis legend Chris Evert criticized Serena for not focusing on tennis, but instead on various off-court engagements. However, Serena made a strong comeback in the 2007 season and she also had a strong season the following year. After seeing this, Evert resumed his words congratulating Serena on her accomplishments.

Chris Evert once echoed his words regarding Serena Williams’ commitment to the pitch

In 2008, Serena Williams won her 9th Grand Slam title at the US Open after defeating Jelena Jankovic in the final. By the way, Chris Evert was there during the final. Before the start of the final, Evert said: “It opened my eyes to not being judgmental and to each their own. Anything that makes you happy. By having other interests, you may not burn out so quickly.

Indeed, it was an honest admission from the 18-time Grand Slam champion, as she recanted her remarks. Notably, Evert wrote an open letter to Serena about not giving one hundred percent on the court, outlining Serena’s various off-court implications. “I don’t see how playing and designing clothes can compare to the pride of being the best tennis player in the world”, Evert wrote in his open letter.

In 2007, Serena won the Australian Open while being ranked 81st in the WTA rankings. In this tournament, she showed incredible courage and determination to win the title, after suffering a series of injuries the previous season.

Serena’s return in 2007

At the 2007 Australian Open, Serena defeated World No. 1 Maria Sharapova in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam title after 2 years. Although she did not win any more titles in 2007, she showed good consistency.

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The following season, Serena won the US Open, as mentioned earlier. Apart from this, she also won the doubles title at Wimbledon and the Olympic gold medal with her sister, Venus Williams.

Currently, Serena is arguably the greatest tennis player of the modern era with 23 Grand Slam singles titles. Additionally, she is aiming for her 24th Grand Slam title at the age of 40, trying to equal Margaret Court’s record.

Will Serena be able to match Margaret Court’s record before her retirement from the tour? Let us know in the comments.