Serena Williams is widely considered the greatest women’s tennis player of all time, and for good reason.
The American recorded a legendary career on the WTA Tour, during which she claimed 73 tour-level titles.
Williams secured an Open Era record of 23 Grand Slam crowns, with seven Australian Opens, three Roland Garros trophies, seven Wimbledon championships, and six US Opens.
In the early 2000s, she was dominating, but after crashing out of the 2006 Australian Open in the third round, she told the press she was injured and was sidelined for six months.
During the hiatus, Williams’ ranking slipped to world number 139, her lowest since 1997, which prompted former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash to make a prediction that would age awfully.
Pat Cash’s comments about Serena Williams in 2007
Williams needed a wildcard to play at the 2006 US Open with her ranking so low, which she received, but the US star went on to bow out in the fourth round.
Ahead of her 2007 Australian Open campaign, Cash wrote a column for The Times, titled ‘Williams is a lost cause’, with the subheading: “For all her talk, Serena Williams will never return to the top again”.
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The Australian explained: “When Serena Williams arrives in Australia on her first foreign playing trip in a year and announces that it is only a matter of time before she is again dominating the sport, it’s time to tell her to get real.
“Tennis is unforgiving. You can’t let it slide down the list of priorities, only to realise suddenly that playing the sport was what you wanted to do all along.
“Many have tried to turn back the clock, but nearly all have failed. That list includes Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Martina Hingis and, for different reasons, Monica Seles.
“The only players I can recall who let things slip, only to climb back to the top, were Andre Agassi and Jennifer Capriati.
“Williams should ask herself if she has the same dedication. And is she prepared to make the sacrifices? The answer is obvious.”
Making his Melbourne prediction, Cash concluded: “I still don’t expect too many upsets before the quarter-finals, but neither do I expect Serena Williams, currently the world’s 81st-ranked player, with eight Americans above her in the rankings, to be in the mix at the sharp end of the tournament.”
Williams was not just ‘in the mix’ during the latter stages of the competition Down Under that year, but she won the tournament in convincing fashion.
The triumph marked her third Australian Open and eighth Grand Slam title overall.
Serena Williams’ run to the 2007 Australian Open title
Williams made quick work of her first two opponents at the 2007 Australian Open, earning back-to-back straight-set victories.
In the third round, she was tested against Nadia Petrova, who took the first set, but Williams fought back to book her place in round four, surpassing her result at the event from 2006.
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Another straight-set win over Jelena Jankovic took her through to the quarterfinals, where Williams found herself a set down once again versus Shahar Pe’er.
She prevailed and did not drop another set en route to the title, having beaten Nicole Vaidisova 7-6, 6-4 in the semifinals.
Williams conquered Maria Sharapova in the championship match to hoist the title, dominating her longtime rival 6-1, 6-2.
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