TENNIS : Garrison Sized Up Serena Early

Serena Williams spun around in disbelief, and mouthed, “Oh, my God,” moments after she had unleashed one last powerful ground stroke, drawing a final error from Martina Hingis on match point at the U.S. Open.

Williams, 17, always believed she would become a champion. Her father, Richard, knew it, as did the rest of her family and her closest supporters.

But maybe everyone--including Williams--was a bit surprised, caught off balance, by her championship arrival Saturday.

The moment drew jubilation and tears from those who have known her the longest. Zina Garrison, Serena’s mentor, stood proudly and cheered and cried. Garrison was not in New York on Saturday morning. Instead, she was at home in Houston at 7 a.m., deciding whether to travel here for the final.

“I said, ‘I’ve got to be there,” Garrison said. “I was walking through the airport and people were saying, ‘Are you going to watch Serena?’ ”

It was a simple decision, really. Garrison had waited a long time for this moment, more than nine years, in fact. That was when she lost in the 1990 Wimbledon final. Garrison knew the day would come when an African American woman would join legend Althea Gibson in winning a Grand Slam title.

Garrison has had opportunities to work with Serena Williams through the years.

“She’s like a sponge,” Garrison said. “Whatever you tell her, she’ll soak it up. You tell her something and she’ll go out and try it right away.”

When Garrison played the Wimbledon final in 1990, Serena was a wee tot, especially in comparison to her long-legged sister, Venus. Garrison already had met the sisters at a charity event in Los Angeles sponsored by Nancy Reagan.

“Everybody kept saying, ‘You’ve got to see the girls,’ ” Garrison said. “She could barely see over the net and she was poaching. She was a cocky little thing. I understand that. The baby. I’m the baby of the family.

“I knew one day she’d be a champion. This is great for women’s tennis. Women’s tennis is off the map. They didn’t come from a country club situation. They went against the grain and they worked very hard.”

Those early memories were running through the mind of Richard Williams, who introduced his daughters to tennis after realizing the sport was not only fun but profitable.

“It all flashed back,” he said. “All the times they were so young.”

They practiced with flat tennis balls in those early days in Compton, long before they started training at tony tennis academies in Florida.

“If they would get to the dead balls, it would make them faster than anybody else,” Richard said. “I know it sounds crazy, but I think Venus and Serena will control women’s tennis.”

Richard Williams was making a lot of sense Saturday. This was the day he envisioned when they lived in Compton. He probably didn’t think his youngest daughter would be winning a very big bag of money for two weeks’ work, $750,000 for a singles title.

Amazingly, Serena had not even won a professional tournament or even reached a singles final before 1999. Her best Grand Slam finish before this was the fourth round at the French Open last year.

Finally, on her own, Serena won her first tournament earlier this year in Paris at an indoor event and followed up by winning at Indian Wells. Interestingly, Venus did not play in either event.

Serena rewarded herself by buying some expensive jewelry and vowed to purchase a high-priced necklace after taking the title at Manhattan Beach last month. She didn’t follow through and had some different acquisitions in mind Saturday.

“I was thinking about calling in and ordering it, but I pay taxes every quarter and I decided I really didn’t need it,” she said of the necklace.

So, what does she want now?

“I want to win Wimbledon,” Williams said, giggling. “I don’t know, you can’t have everything. I’m just pretty excited to have this moment. I’m 17. I’ve won a Slam. I’m a teenager. It’s really great.”

The newest Open champion was hardly intimidated by the day’s developments. President Clinton telephoned her from New Zealand, and Williams chatted with him as well as Chelsea Clinton. She told the president: “I’m pretty stoked.”

Very few things frighten the outgoing Williams.

“I only fear God, yes,” she said. “But I never like spiders. I hate frogs. Once I was walking to go to practice and I put on my shoe and I felt something in it and it was a frog.

“I’ve had every bad experience you can imagine with them. I don’t get along with them at all.”

But the giddy Williams was starting to wear down after her singles and doubles matches. She spoke for another minute and stopped, saying: “I’m starting to get tired.”

The day was a wearing one . . . even for a 17-year-old with boundless energy who had just conquered the tennis world.