By Chris Oddo | Tuesday July 5, 2016

 

Venus Williams is still thriving at Wimbledon despite being the oldest woman to have entered the singles draw in 2016.

Photo Source: Camera Sport

She’s one of those rare athletes that can take the blinders off, look around, and put her remarkable, historic career in perspective.

No slogans, no awkward silences—just wisdom.

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Who needs writers when you have Venus Williams?

Asked yesterday, after reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinal for the first time in six years, if she enjoys proving people wrong, the 36-year-old unleashed a beautifully crafted soliloquy that delved into the mindset of a champion thinker.

“I don't really get into, like, what other people think. I have a job to do on the court,” she said.

So how can there be no bad blood between Venus and the press? How many times has she been asked why she continues to play when she’s not the player that she once was?

It might be difficult to understand for many. We live in a schadenfreude state, forever distracted not by what is in our heart, but by what unpleasantries lurk in the shadows of others.

Because she is too mentally decent and spiritually undiminished for that line of thinking, Williams takes a far more noble tack. There are people to inspire. Clothes to be designed. A world to change. Challenges to be overcome. Adventures to be had—and appreciated.

“People are paid to talk and write, do all that stuff,” Williams said in her measured, dulcet tone. “There are very few people that can get out here and play at this level. I'm the one on the court. I'm the one that deserves to be there. I get that chance to go to the next round, so... As long as I keep putting myself in that position, good things can happen.”

Good things are happening here at Wimbledon. A five-time champion, whether she wants to or not, is proving everybody and their mother wrong. She doesn’t burn for these I told you so moments—but she can’t help having them. It’s what she’s been doing since she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an energy sapping ailment that many predicted would be the bitter end for her, five years ago.

So what has Williams done since then? She’s struggled, muddled, risen and fell back, all the while taking on a new role as the WTA’s unofficial symbol of grit, determination, dedication and love for the game.

She is one of the best grass-courters of all-time, and while she is perhaps not the awe-inspiring tennis thoroughbred that she was nearly two decades ago when she took the grounds of the All England Club by storm and started an era of sibling dominance that will likely never be matched, here or beyond, she is clearly one of the best players in the world at this very moment, at the ripe old age of 36.

Nonplussed by what she's currently accomplishing, or perhaps simply unsatisfied, Williams summed up her feeling about her latest Wimbledon run:

“You know, being in the quarterfinals is better than the first round,” she said, matter of factly. “Put it like that. But, like I said, I always want more. I want more out of myself. For sure, I haven't had an easy road, but a lot of people haven't. I try not to think about those sorts of things. I try to think about what I can accomplish."

Imagine a world where more of us thought along these lines? Dwell not on the past but on the possibilities that lie waiting in the future. That's a champion's way of thinking, and not just a champion of tennis--a champion of life.

Naysayers may fuel the passion of the masses, but Williams skips that step and goes right to the source.

"I think the toughest critic is always yourself in any case," she said. "If anyone's hard on me, I'm harder than anyone out there."