Monday, July 7, 2008

Mom to Serena: Grow up!



To those of you who think we just pick on Serena unfairly, consider this:
(H)er relatives willingly take much of the blame for her inability to deal with defeat as an outgrowth of them always spoiling her as the baby of the family. Her sister, Lyndrea, who flew in from Los Angeles yesterday, said Serena to this day can't even bear to lose when they play the card game "spoons."

"Serena thinks everything is supposed to go her way, that's the bottom line," said mom/coach Oracene Price, who had finally removed the large sunglasses she hid behind during the match. "She thinks that's the way it's supposed to go in life. But this is life."
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For her mother's part, however, she believes it's time for Serena to grow up and experience a reality check on life in the real world.

"Well, you know, she's going to have to learn how to suck things up," Price said. "[She needs to] say, 'OK, I'm not going to win everything. This is going to make me a better person. This will build character for myself and I have to learn how to lose. I might not be happy about it, but I just have to go on, go on and say, you know what, I didn't get this one, but I'm getting the next one.'"

While Price compassionately understands Serena's disappointment in being outplayed, she would prefer her daughter to deal with defeat in a different way -- her present style of going AWOL is disturbing. Most recently, Serena tuned out after her shocking third-round exit at the recent French Open, in which unlike Saturday's final, she played sloppy, dispassionate tennis.

"I'm not going to say nothing," said Price, smiling when asked how she might go about consoling Serena. "Before she won Australia [2007] that time and she lost in Hobart I didn't see her for two days. She didn't answer my e-mails, no texts, nothing. And when she lost at the French Open [2008], which was the worst, nothing for a week or two. You can't talk to her because she's not communicating with anyone."
The rest of Sandra Harwitt's story is here.

I'm with
Jon Wertheim, who said discovering Serena is a classless loser even when the victor is big sis is sort of a relief.

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