This past week at the Colonial, Annika Sorenstam attempted to compete with the men on the PGA Tour. As expected, she missed the cut. Sorenstam proved to herself and to the rest of the world that women cannot yet compete with men on the golf course.

Golf is one of the few sports where a woman could have even the slightest chance of outdueling a man. I applaud Annika’s effort and courage amid much backlash and criticism.

I would encourage her to improve her strength by getting into the weight room to lengthen her distance off the tee. I would not oppose her giving it another shot a couple of years down the road, assuming she continues to dominate the women’s tour. 

Sorenstam’s foray into the men’s realm of sport sparked a thought in my brain of whether any woman could do what she attempted to do, and do it successfully. 

Thirty years ago, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the famed “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. I would be interested in seeing a second rendition of this battle.

In my mind, there is presently only one woman capable of crossing into the men’s arena, in any sport – tennis superstar Serena Williams.

Williams currently holds all four Grand Slam titles. Last year, while posting a record of 56-5 and winning eight singles titles, she won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. So far this year she is 26-2 and has won the Australian Open.

Williams had set a goal for herself this year: To go undefeated. While she has already come up short, losing twice this season, she has been as dominant as ever having captured three titles so far. She started the year 21-0 in WTA events before losing in the finals of the Family Circle Cup to Justine Henin-Hardenne.

As French Open play began in Roland Garros on Monday, Williams seemed poised to make a run at her fifth Grand Slam title in a row – a feat last achieved by Steffi Graf in 1988-89. She barely broke a sweat a she dominated her first two opponents on the way to her 30th straight victory in a Slam.

Williams warmed up with her sister, Venus, before the match. Venus appears to be the only player on the WTA able to compete with Williams. Perhaps that is because nobody on tour knows Williams’ game as well as Venus, simply because their father Richard has had them competing against one another since they could hold up a racket.

The sisters have met in each of the last four Grand Slam finals. Serena has to be getting tired of beating her sister over and over. They are likely to meet again in the final of the French on June 7.

She has to be ready for a challenge of a different sort. A couple of months ago, after hearing of Sorenstam’s entering of the Colonial, she was asked if she would ever play a man. Williams said she wouldn’t, that it would “be like Lennox Lewis against Laila Ali.” She said she would “have no chance against Andre Agassi.”

While I’m not sure that Williams could beat Agassi, I think she would have at least a chance. I would like to see her enter a tournament and see how far she could get. I don’t think she would win a tournament, but I do think she could defeat a couple of men.

Williams is clearly the best female tennis player on the planet. She has been the WTA’s No. 1 ranked player for 47 straight weeks. If Williams wins the French Open and continues to dominate the women’s game she owes it to herself and her fans to at least give it a try and challenge herself against the men.

Marty Homan is a senior in journalism. He can be reached at [email protected].