Serena Williams, fresh off her recent second place finish at Wimbledon, decided to up her game for a match with destiny. In an exclusive match to air on pay-per-view beginning in October, the tennis master easily beat what many considered to be in impossible foe: six armed Indian tennis phenom, Pari Patel.
Despite Patel playing her peak game, a racket in each hand and dominating the net, she was no match for the power and ubiquitous court presence of Williams during the evening match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “It was my first loss, and what an education it was!” said Patel, losing 6-1, 6-1 in the longest 7 set match ever played at an exhausting 4 hours and twenty eight minutes.
After the match, the American phenom had nothing but praise for her South Asian competitor, “she obviously has great reach, speed, and you just never know where her serve is coming from,” adding, “it took every ounce of gas in my tank to hang on during those rallies but I believed in my self and had the power of my family rooting for me every step of the way.”
When asked what her next accomplishment in tennis might be, USTA President Katrina Adams said, “assuming that she can keep this pace and workout schedule, we’d like to see Serena become the first octogenarian winner of the US open, something that would be a nice capstone to her career, and bring new fans to the game.”