Focus: After Williams overcame her deep depression following a cavalcade of dangerous health issues — so close to death, in fact, that she didn’t even think about playing tennis again, but just about staying alive — Williams returned with relentless single-minded focus to come back better than ever. She would not let her health failings defeat her, much less her opponents.
“I didn’t give up,’’ she said following her win. “I was just so tired. I had a tube in my stomach and it was draining constantly. Gosh, I mean, right before that I had the blood clot. I had lung problems. You know, then I had two foot surgeries. It was a lot . . . a lot. I felt like I didn’t do anything to bring on that. I felt like, uh, I just felt down . . . the lowest of lows.’’
