The Grand Slam Race

It's 11:30 pm ET, and I'm watching the Australian Open semi final battle between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. The game is well into the third set, and it looks like Sharapova is starting to lose. Now, I'm a die hard fan of Sharapova, and it's heartbreaking for me to see her lose. The score reads 6-2, 2-7, 2-3 with Maria serving. Hard enough as it is to see Maria lose, it's twice as hurting to see Serena win. And then I begin to wonder.
It's 3-3. Back to my wonderings. Why is it that the Williams sisters are looked at with contempt when it comes to Women's Tennis. In other words, whats women's tennis all about?
Sherapova breaks Serena, and my nerves have started to get lively again. Coming back to the Women's tennis question, what is it all about? Glamour...? Grace...? or... can't find another G-word. Forgive my ignorance, but how is it that women's tennis is been marketed? From the days of Graf (Sherapova serves for the match but is lagging 15-30), when women's tennis was grace (Sherapova serving for match point.. no deuce please... oh too late... deuce), and Graf personified (Ad. Sherapova)... (Deuce again.. this is killing me.. Ad. Sherapova.. Deuce again... Ad S.Williams.. Game Williams... aaah), when women's tennis was predominantly in white, tennis has now taken a makeover, with lots of color. Men's game has been traditionally a game of brawn and brain, with macho serves and super macho placements provoding the thrills. These days, with the advent of the Williams sisters, the brawn and machoness has invaded the feminine courts. And I guess thats the reason a large proportion of male audience that I know of, is on the other side of the Williams sisters.
It's 6-6 Deuce in the third set, with Williams serving. And now it's ad Williams. And it's game Williams. And I wonder if anything of the explanation above has anything to do with race. You know, the black, white, brown thing. Williams wins. I have now shut the tv down, hoping to complete this blog, now that the match is over. Well back to grand slam race explanation again, how much of it owes it to race? Is it just race, or pure unadulterated glamor ? Granted that the un-whites are physically stronger, but they just play their game the way they see fit. And they haven't been the reigning champions either all the time. So, there is still hope, that women's tennis is not always about power. Atleast not all the time.
But yes, it's definitely about glamor. I'm sure that the viewership for the women's grandslam skyrocketed with an Anna or a Mary Pierce in the post Graf era. And well, I would have followed the grand slam final more closely had Sherapova made it. And why did I want Sherapova in the final? Not so much because she plays juggernaut tennis, but only because she is beautiful. May be if it was Beyonce playing against Maria on the Rod Lever stadium, I would have said, "May the best Player win". May be I should learn to appreciate the game in the sport, than the glamor. But then, even in the ad-breaks, Sherapova is described as Sexy (a song in the background), while no such adjective was voiced over for Serena. And looking at some of the harsh calls she has received in the recent years, I cannot but ask myself, "Is it just me ? Or is there something larger, that also favours race over talent, glamor over game"? But then, I can blame nobody. And I am reprieved of any guilty pleasures in the final, since Sherapova is out of the race. May be finally, for the woman's final, I can just plainly watch tennis, with a hope, "May the best (Woman) Player Win".