If I knew how to Googlebomb, I’d make sure this image appeared anytime someone Googled “fierce.”
How excited am I about this year’s US Open champions? Well, I’m posting two days early, for one thing. But I also had to engage in a serious internal debate about whether to post Serena’s picture or Andy’s first. Ultimately, I decided on Serena because …well, look at that picture. That woman had a life-threatening pulmonary embolism last year, and this year she won two Grand Slams and two Olympic gold medals. (Her victory celebration reportedly included a karaoke rendition of “I Will Survive.”)
Andy’s pictures, while lovely, are not quite so awe-inspiring.
My brother totally did this exact same pose in his senior year pictures, but with the family dog instead of the US Open trophy. So that makes Andy’s cooler, but still…
This time of year sports gets so incredibly busy that it sometimes feels impossible to invest too much in any one event; when something happens that breaks through that noise it’s delightful in a way that some of us can only express in little victory dances. Andy’s big win — not only has everyone been waiting years for Murray’s breakthrough, you might have heard that it’s been awhile since any British man has won a Slam — was definitely one of those moments for me.
That’s.. a little less yearbooky.
Serena’s win, of course, was less surprising in the sense that she’s been laying waste to everyone in her path since mid-Wimbeldon, and very surprising in the sense that her finals match with Azarenka turned out to be extremely competitive and entertaining. Are we seeing the birth of a new Graf-Seles level rivalry? Only time will tell.
I couldn’t find a goofy photo of Serena with her trophy, so I’ll close with her expression of pure joy at the trophy presentation. (It’s telling that Azarenka, even after having two match points and being thwarted, can’t help but smile herself at Serena’s emotion.)
Ladies... 