Serena Williams on Jimmy Fallon's show. (Screengrab)It was Jimmy Fallon. And the usual late tonight show guffaws. But Serena Williams piqued a tiny bit of eyebrow, when she told the American popular host, that “Tom Brady started an amazing trend. That’s all I’ll say.” It wasn’t so much a hint at un-retiring (Remember she called it ‘evolving’, not the R word), but leaving the idea dangling in the air.
Fiddling with his script texts, Fallon asked the “Are you sure?” disbelieving hopelessly hopeful stock question asked of retiring sports icons by sports fans: “So, so there’s no chance of you pulling a Tom Brady and saying, ‘you know maybe I’m not ready, I’m maybe evolving into coming back.”
“Tom Brady started an amazing trend. That’s what I want to say.”
–@serenawilliams on the future of her tennis career and retirement. #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/BdcvwrwYqr
— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) September 14, 2022
Serena amidst peals of laughter would respond with “You know Tom Brady started an amazing trend. That’s all I’m gonna say.” The possibility wafting in the wind, Fallon would call it a smart answer.
French publication on its English Blog said should Serena go down the Brady path, it will be the biggest trend set in sport. Stressing that Brady was in good shape when he un-retired, Marca noted that he was in a “privileged sport” like American football, with it’s team nature, which afforded him the chance of a comeback.
“With Serena, you could see her struggling during her last performance in the US Open that just ended last weekend. Even though we have no doubt she can make a return and still compete at the highest level, winning trophies might be slightly more difficult due to the toll on her body. The level of effort she has to endure is very different compared to what Tom Brady needs to do on the football field,” it said.
“This is slowly becoming a new trend for many more athletes. Soccer has a few of those veteran examples such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic ot Cristiano Ronaldo. Even Messi has a chance to win the next World Cup and he will be 35 when he represents Argentina in December,” Marca noted.