New York: Serena Williams finally took up Roger Federer’s volley challenge. Williams could be seen hitting the ball against the wall at her home without dropping it.
Serena joked that she has been doing this for a number of days now but she won’t give up any time soon. She also revealed that she was doing it with the racquet that Federer gave her at a Hopman Cup meet.
‘Only reason I am doing it this well is because I am using the racquet Roger gave me a few years ago at the Hopman Cup. It’s amazing,’ she said.
Federer’s challenge has been taken up by a number of people in the tennis world in their own way. While Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi did it with a frying pan, Ashleigh Barty, who had taken a break from tennis to pursue a cricket career, did it with a cricket bat.
The tennis calendar, as is the case with all sports, has been frozen due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam that could be played this year with the French Open being postponed to September and Wimbledon being cancelled for the first time since the Second World War.
Uncertainty surrounds the US Open with the women’s leg of the Rogers Cup being cancelled earlier this month.