Serena's Lack of Drive Betrays Her Talent

Quite frankly, Serena Williams just embarrassed herself. But it's more than that, really. It's time for everyone to stop giving her a pass.

"We all know who the real number one is," she said Monday, talking about the computer rankings, which recently dropped her to No. 2.

"Quite frankly, I'm the best in the world."

Quite frankly, it was about 24 hours later that she lost her first match at the Italian Open, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 to Patty Schnyder, a career bridesmaid. This is Muhammad Ali bragging how great he is, and then getting knocked out by a sparring partner.

And Williams has lost her last three matches.

Is this it for her? Is it the end of her dominance in tennis?

Of course not. Unless she doesn't bother to dominate again.

That has always been the deal with Williams, and the apologists are always out there for her. This time it will be that she has had some injuries, it was her first match of the year on clay, Schnyder isn't that bad.

Please. The deal is this: Williams does not feel a sense of responsibility toward tennis. And at just 27, she is losing her fight. Except during the majors, when she cares enough to win. So she does.

The thing is, the stuff she said about herself on Monday was all true.

She is the best in the world, by far. But she only cares enough to play like it for four tournaments a year. She has won the past two majors.

Danira Safina is the new No. 1, but she barely even factors into this, other than having to defend herself, her worthiness, from Williams.

She can say this because she won many more Grand Slams than me," said Safina, 23, who has never won a major. "But she's also older than me, so she has more experience. So let's see when I'm her age how many titles I have and then we can say.

"It's not luck. Nobody gave it to me. I played two Grand Slam finals and last year I won four titles. This didn't come out of the sky."

No, it came from Safina always being there, always playing at her best.

The rankings are based on a computer system that compiles a player's results over the past 12 months. Safina has nowhere near the ability that Williams has. But this ranking is the result of caring enough to earn it.

On Monday, someone asked Williams which player she fears most:

"Probably myself," she said. "I always beat myself."

And that's true, too. She beats herself by not showing up, not fully anyway.

What other champion arrives for the fight so poorly prepared so often? What other champion fails so easily?

Quite frankly, this is not the behavior of a champion. Champions fight to the end, fight for everything.

This isn't about any of her endless injuries. And it's not a slump, either. It's a superstar not bothering.

Two years ago she showed up at the Australian Open fat. And she won anyway.

She's just that good.

But that isn't enough. Her sport needs her now. Maria Sharapova is out hurt, and women's tennis suddenly finds itself lacking star power.

But Williams' mind trails off. Maybe it's asking too much for her to be all things.

I used to think she could be a great new model for what Miss America could be: smart, strong, beautiful, fit, successful, well-spoken. She has everything. It all had to come from hard work, too.

But Williams won her first major 10 years ago, and since then has been in a cycle of dominating then disappearing. Then dominating. Then disappearing. Somewhere in there she went from a tennis-playing celebrity to a celebrity tennis player, just loving to be seen. She designs her own dresses, appears on TV shows, dates celebrities.

I once talked to her father, Richard Williams, about this.

"I have never taught my kids to be 100 percent committed to tennis," he said. "There's a lot beyond the baseline. If you don't learn that, you are doomed. It's kind of sad that people don't think that way."

He was talking specifically about Chris Evert, who had written a letter to Serena in Tennis magazine, begging her to stay focused. And it's true that we see tennis players getting so myopic sometimes that they burn out and go away.

Williams already has provided superstar power to her sport, but her balance has to include more than eight weeks of interest in her game per year.

"As you all know, I never stop working," she wrote on her website recently. "I am like a machine. Before I depart for Europe on Saturday, I am promoting my Signature Statement Collection through HSN. The line features a boyfriend sweater, jewelry, bags, & much more."

Quite frankly, she doesn't seem to respect the game as much as her position.