Let's Hear It for Florida's Serena Williams

OK, tennis isn't politics and maybe I have no business writing about it in Sunshine State News, but I feel the need to strike back at the low-key response, the near indifference, to Serena Williams' astounding accomplishments I'm seeing now, of all times.

Especially in Florida, where she has lived since she was 9 years old. 

At 33, Serena Williams -- greatest female player of our time -- won her sixth Wimbledon singles title on Saturday, defeating Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, 6-4, 6-4. That's three more Wimbledon wins than Chris Evert and it puts her even with legend Billie Jean King.

There should have been more noise for Serena. The success numbers she's racking up are jaw-dropping.

She needs one more Wimbledon win to catch Steffi Graf, two more to catch Helen Wills Moody and three to reach Martina Navratilova. Three more is a lot to ask, but it's not out of the question.

Another incredible stat: Serena has won 21 grand slam singles titles. She already surpassed Navratilova's mark of 18 in January and is on course to beat Margaret Court's all-time record of 24.

In an era of mediocre accomplishment in the American game -- men's as well as women's -- Serena is the only bright light. Yes, I said only. There is no one else like her, not even her big sister Venus.

Serena is ranked No. 1 in the world and was nominated for a record-equaling fourth Laureus World Sports Award. 

"Serena is amazing," Navratilova told CNN. "She has really dominated the sport in the last three years. What is impressive to me is that she's doing it at this age. ...

"She put her career into another gear three years ago after that loss to Virginie Razzano at the French Open. She really focused herself on the sport. She realized that her time was running out and that if she wanted to make her mark on the sport she had better get going, and she has barely lost any matches since then."

Serena has been defeated just twice in 2015.

Serena and her sister still live in Palm Beach Gardens in an 11,000-square-foot home with separate tennis facility at BallenIsles Country Club. They give generously, among other things, to tennis programs for the underprivileged. They have a part-ownership in the Miami Dolphins.

Serena is a Florida girl through and through. She is tennis royalty nearing the end of her career, nursing injuries, refitting herself for big matches one challenge at a time, playing with unbelievable will and heart, sometimes through great pain.

She had an amazing Wimbledon and deserved more than the couple of paragraphs she got in most Sports sections. I hope Florida sports writers begin to follow her quest to break records that once seemed far out of reach. She deserves it.