Serena Williams overcame a fight back from Agnieszka Radwanska to claim her fifth Wimbledon singles title in three sets with scores of 6-1, 5-7, and 6-2.

Williams dominated the first set in a little over 30 minutes before the third seed from Poland managed to find her feet. But Radwanska, who has been suffering from a virus for the last few days, made the most of the rain break after the first set and came out fighting to sneak the second. Williams managed to regroup in the third and won her 14^th Grand Slam title just two years after a life-threatening illness.

“I can’t even describe it. I almost didn’t make it a few years ago,” an emotional Williams told the BBC, referring to her health problems. “I was in hospital but now I’m here again and it was so worth it. I’m so happy. Aggie played so well. That’s why she’s had such a great career, and she’s so young.”

A three setter never looked on the cards after Williams came out all guns blazing. Radwanska even went a break down 2-1 in the second before she found her form. She clawed back the break and hit some magical winners to show how she had made the final for the first time.

The American looked to have no answer at the end of the second set and her serve, which was so impressive throughout the tournament, failed to fire. But Williams showed her champion mentality and regrouped in the final set, completing one game in just 49 seconds by hitting four aces.

She served 17 aces in the final, bringing her total to 103, the highest of any man or woman at this year’s Wimbledon.

Her victory is the first by a lady over 30 since Martina Navratilova in 1990 and it looks like there will be more to come.

Radwanska will take confidence from this tournament though– her best grand slam to date – and she will be ranked number two in the world on Monday. Her consistent hitting, anticipation and finesse touch is a refreshing change reminiscent of Martina Hingis; and shows there is still a place in the game for those who can’t simply rely on big hitting from the baseline.

But it is Williams who has confirmed her position as one of the greatest – if not the greatest female ever to play the game with such an impressive victory.

Image Courtesy of  Kat Shann

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For the first time ever Saudi Arabia has announced that Saudi women will be allowed to compete in the Olympics. Saudi Arabia is one of three countries the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been pressuring to allow female competitors. The other two countries, Qatar and Brunei, have also announced that they will be sending athletes this year. Qatar will be sending three women: a shooter, a swimmer, and a runner; and Brunei will send a woman for the hurdling title.

The Saudi Embassy in London issued a statement announcing the decision which stated, “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wishes to reaffirm its support the sublime meanings reflected by Olympic Games and the cherished values of excellence, friendship, and respect that they represent.”

The IOC has been working for several months with the Saudi government and issued a positive statement on March 19 that read, “the IOC is confident that Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London in accordance with the International Federations’ rules.”

Minky Worden, the director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch said, “It is only right that the Saudi government should play by the Olympic rules. But an 11th-hour change of course to avoid a ban does not alter the dismal and unequal conditions of women and girls in Saudi Arabia.” Worden did admit that the announcement “pins them down to finding a woman. The Saudis should be on a bit of a desperate search” right now.

The Saudis have already allowed one woman, Dalma Rushdi Malhas, to compete in the equestrian competition at the Singapore Youth Olympics. After hearing the announcement that women will now be allowed to compete in the Olympics Malhas said it was “a dream come true. This just opens so many doors for women.”

Unfortunately, due to an injury her horse has suffered, Malhas missed the June 17 qualification and will not be prepared for this Olympic competition. She is still hoping that she will be able to attend the next equestrian competition at the Olympics.

Earlier this year the Human Rights Watch advocacy group said that the reason why women were not allowed to compete in sports came form a “predominant conservative view that opening sports to women and girls will lead to immorality: ‘steps of the devil’ as one prominent religious scholar put it.”

In Saudi Arabia women cannot drive, vote or hold public office, although some of these restrictions may change in 2015. Women are also not allowed to marry, leave the country, open bank accounts, or go to school unless they have the permission of a male guardian such as a father, husband, or brother.

In 2009 and 2010 Saudi Arabia closed its private gyms for women. The only exception for this restriction is the Jeddah United basketball section which is a private sports company.

Previously, female athletes were banned from the Olympics because the crowd includes both men and women who would be watching these women.

King Abdullah came to the throne in 2005 and has tried to do some modern reforms. However, the king has faced large opposition from religious conservatives on every policy that would ease restrictions against women.

One area that King Abdullah has tried to ease restrictions on is driving, but he has heard opposition on this as well.

Manal al Sharif, a Saudi female activist, was arrested and jailed after posting a video on YouTube of her driving. Sharif is helping to organize- and is participating in- the second annual driving protest. Sharif said about the Olympic decision that it “isn’t one of those things we’re crying out for” because they are more interested in their “basic rights.”

Image Courtesy of  Foxtongue

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The question now is do we coddle our female athletes? Very simply, the answer is yes; but don’t take this as necessarily a bad thing- after all, all athletes are not created equal.

This notion that in order for females to be taken seriously in a particular sport means that we should treat them like we treat men is ridiculous.  The idea of women’s sports is a relatively new idea and the acceptance of women in sports doing what we do as men is still in the ground stages, so it doesn’t make sense to react or overreact to individual games or failures.

This topic has been highly debated as of late due to the treatment of women’s soccer players upon their return state side. There has been a lot of criticism but those critiques have taken a backseat to the amount of fanfare they have received; in a sense, celebrating a second place finish. Yes it is entirely up to you if you want to approach it that way, but it is a mistake if you compare that to the reaction given to the men upon their return after numerous loses.  Women’s soccer is winning in America which is the most important thing; that is what is being celebrated- not losing.

The criticism is legitimate in terms of the way in which they lost the game and there has been ample criticism about that; but we must celebrate what is being accomplished.  Most importantly, we must remember the lack of interest that lies on the men’s side of things in terms of soccer in America; there is a lot more good will for the women’s soccer team while the patience is wearing thin for the men who have way more to prove at this point.

The women have won, the men haven’t…we must remember that.

As evident from media today, the sports world as a whole is dominated by men.  With men setting the agenda, it only makes sense that the focus is placed on the physical aspect or the aesthetics involved in attracting viewers (men). It is nothing new that men love to watch beautiful women and the US team is loaded with beautiful women. Why should that not be discussed or why shouldn’t they be seen throughout the media networks doing interviews?  In the long run, the sport will only benefit, not suffer.

There is nothing sexist about stating the facts and in this case, the facts are helping the bottom line of the sport as a whole.

As long as the skills of the players aren’t lost in the overall appreciation of the sport, the focus of the sports world should remain on them; they deserve that.

Hearing a player like Hope Solo talk about her role in this equation shows me that she views and understands the bigger picture. Yes maybe men will be drawn in by what they see, but they will stay and bring their daughters and mothers will bring their daughters as well exposing a new generation of girls to the sport. After they come to watch, only then will they fall in love with skill involved and sport as a hole; or maybe inspiring young girls to want involvement in sports altogether which could have an even greater impact in the world of sports.

Women’s sports can’t sustain themselves at this point; that is evident in the lack of money they are making. But as I’ve stated many times before, Americans love events.  We are an event driven society, so every chance or event they get to market Women will likely be welcomed and celebrated.

It is not coddling to celebrate effort and the development of a great sport in American society.  There are many things wrong with the way we approach the sports that both women and men play; looking forward though, we should definitely stop comparing men and women in world of sports—it’s simply not productive nor does it advance the conversation in a way that is fair or balance.

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