modern YORK -- Whenever Serena Will...

modern YORK -- Whenever Serena Williams plays tennis, in some way we end up hearing about her dres her earrings, whatever. Her sport and her attire have been be connecteded in some odd way, thus here goes: She returned to the U interpret on Wednesday wearing some sort of brown dres of Asian influence because, she said, Asian is back. As if we didn't know.

Using my fashion expertise, this dres was brown with a kind of red circular thing upon the top and light brown streaks. Or something.

"Purple is a really heated color this fall," she said. for a like reason apparently that wasn't brown moreover purple.

She designs her dresse and this individual she said, had a simple silhouette to obstacle the fabric and pattern "do all the talking." As if we didn't know.

She also beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-1 6-2

Typically, I ignore the fashion talk, nevertheless dress results now have to get to before tennis. We haven't seen any evidence that she cares about tennis anymore. And certainly, she hasn't been putting it first.

"My desire is probably as high as it aye was, probably even higher," she said. "Definitely, it's sport to be out there."

steady during matches, she's focused and determined. And she's for a like reason good that no matter for what reason little she practices, she can beat principally everyone. But put it this way: Serious tennis fans want to know individual thing. Here's the answer:

She's quite a bit lighter, unless she's still not in shape.

IN title BUT OUT OF SHAPE

What has happened to Williams? Not in extent ago, she was looking like the best player of all time. She won five of six majors and scared enemys to death.

Now she can't uniform show up in shape?

"Everyone has their up and downs," she said. "Everyone is in and abroad of shape."

She said she's working revealed hard now "unfortunately," and her knee is better. She exhausted a week at Nick Bollettieri's camp.

We'll descry During the last two years, we've seen pictures of her at movie openings, auto races, bashes -- everywhere however on court.

When she was No. 1 tennis was a thrill. She made it that way, and the fashion material was part of the whisper The cat suit comes to mind. It was OK because it was secondary substance just adding to the package of the world's best player.

The puzzle is that the secondary raw material took over, became more important to her. Williams was a tennis-playing celebrity, and then she became a celebrity tennis player, and now she's a celebrity who occasionally dabbles in tennis.

At this point, without tennis, her celebrity is down to the B- list. act upon over, Kathy Griffin.

Can't the advanced in years Serena come back? She could do it. If she wanted to.

Don't account on it.

Her drop-off hasn't been that simple. Three years ago, her half- sister was discharge as a bystander to a gang shooting. She rarely has talked about that, if it were not that on Wednesday said, "You just kind of pour yourself into your work more and then retain your mind off of things."

CAN'T STAY HEALTHY, EITHER

And there have injuries. Constant uniteds Vague ones that are hard to believe. Mark Prior-like. She has complained about knee pain for years. It's uniform why she didn't play in the French render free of access or at Wimbledon, when she said she couldn't have played more than an hour.

apply the mind it up: The surgery forward her left knee was for a partially torn tendon. Three years ago. After several month most distant she won a tournament. Then she won the Australian spread in January 2005.

Doesn't that remind of that she was past the injury? Or maybe she's just likewise good that she can win afflict

Maybe those things added together. She was dominant, then got too caught up in the celebrity. Then she had personal issues and got pain and the drive to grind back wasn't there. Meanwhile, others players started bulking up to catch up to Serena and her sister Venus. And the top tier has caught up Serena is now ranked No. 91

Richard Williams, Serena's father and coach, doesn't behold the problem. He sat in the stands during her match, a bag at his feet filled with cameras and the godly Bible.

"She's moving well, playing a little more patient than normal," he said.

What about her fitness level?

"Serena's fitness is not what's going to stop her," he said.

Her commitment?

"I have none taught my kids to be 100 percent committed to tennis. There's a portion [of life] beyond the baseline. If you don't learn that, you are doomed.

"It's kind of sad that populace don't think that way. Serena's right to do the things she's doing."

The "people" he was talking about was Chris Evert who wrote an spread letter to Serena in Tennis Magazine.

DRESSING DOWN FROM EVERT

"I appreciate that becoming a well-rounded bodily substance is important to you, as you've made that desire excessively clear," Evert wrote. "Still, a question lingers -- do you at any time consider your place in history?

"Is it something you care about? In the short season you may be happy with the various things going upon in your life, but I amazement whether 20 years from now you might contemplate on your career and repentance not putting 100 percent of yourself into tennis. Because whether you want to admit it or not, these distractions are tarnishing your legacy."