Only one storyline can come out of certain WTA events. Most of the time they are tainted by turmoil. Hamburg will be associated with Seles being stabbed. In Indian Wells, the Williams sisters had to fight the ugly attitudes of an intolerant crowd. The 2015 edition finally sees an attempt at overcoming this past. How will this effect Serena and the futures of her winning Indian Wells.
Serena Present, Other Seeds in Flux
2001 brought a victory that was tainted by racist crowds for Serena Williams. Since then, she had not even entertained the notion of returning until now. Almost a decade and a half later, she considers it mostly to be bridge under the water. An interested Serena is even more dangerous than normal. To feed fuel to the fire, Halep might not be in if her pesky ribs are not fully healed. Kvitova is putting all her eggs in one basket as she withdrew from this tourney. A third round ejection from the Aussie Open saw here only play twice since then. Wimbledon or nothing seems to be the beat she marches to these days.
Tarpischev Joke Was Tipping Point
Clear and decisive action on an off color joke was the event that help convince Serena that change had occurred in the WTA. Shamil Tarpischev made an off color comment about the Williams Brothers. This got him dinged $25K and suspended him for a year. With such an influx of African American talent on the WTA scene, perhaps the environment as Indian Wells would be different.
Normally, I am the first to fade every Serena tournament due to her age and interest left in the game. However, in this one it is either a pass or Serena in the future to win it. This is where she won her first professional match and has a chance to close out an ugly chapter in WTA history . We urge you to tail Serena and make that profit coupled with social change this week.
