Sports Saturday Thread #1 For 1/30/10: Now That's "G" (2010 Australian Open Women's Finals Review)

Usually when a professional athlete cryptically draws attention to one of his or her sponsors, it can usually be a frivilous moment not having anything to do with what they accomplished.

But when Serena Williams told the crowd in the post match awards ceremony at Rod Laver Arena today "I had a real G moment", it was a statement to one of her corporate backers that certainly fit the bill (and the future check).

Gatorade's catchmark phrase of the current time represented the way the younger Williams sister willed herself to a terrific 12th Grand Slam title, defeating her comeback rival Justin Henin in a topsy turvy 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 match to defend her Australian Open title for the first time.

Seemingly weary and reeling from letting the dogged, diminutive Belgian back into the match by losing her seemingly straight set victory in the second set, the world number one added to her legacy as one capable of rising to the ultimate occasion like few other.

15-40 down, 0-1 down, facing two break points after losing 14 of the last 15 points, the American found her serve in due time to prevent Henin from keeping the precious momentum she was riding high on at the time. But after breaking Henin to take her own advantage in the incipient stages of the final set to 2-1, Williams opened the door again for the four time French Open champion, breaking back at 15 to even it at 2-all.

That is when that "G" moment kicked in.

30-all in the 2-all game, Williams smacked a second serve with a down the line backhand to get to another break point. And feeling the tension of the moment, Henin hit one of the tighest backhands (not in a good "tight" but bad one) I have ever seen her hit, as she was broken for the second consecutive time on serve. And Serena never looked back.

The weariness of playing singles and doubles back to back for 13 days straight was not going to deter her from winning this title, nor was the presence of her fierce adversary across the net.

Williams was untouchable the rest of the way, capitalizing on Henin
s strategy for trying to be more aggressive than arguably "the most aggressive women in tennis history" when she's on form.

But that isn't to take away from how tactically Serena won this match as well.

Besides usual smart serving, Williams played enough defense in this match at the right times to make Henin press and go for too much on her return of Serena's second serves or from her ground strokes. Many thought that with Serena's physical condition and the growing form of Henin coming into this final that the longer the rally went, the more it clearly favored Henin. That turned out not to be case, as it really was a "push" in that department.

Henin's hit or miss approach was a little weird considering that her desire to place Serena on the back foot took away from her usually well-measured percentage plays. However, it is also a testament to Williams ability to hit quality second serves that aren't always assailable, as well as her still having the foot speed despite any fatigue or ailment setting in.

While those things maybe felt, what doesn't reside in the body of Serena Williams is fearing the moments that make legends become legends. And today was just another paradigm of her greatness, highlighted by the final four games of that match.

No wonder why she has plenty of "G" moments.