
Lineup
Features
TENNIS
28 Serena Williams
Was her bizarre Wimbledon a sign of her final fade or the dawn of a new era of dominance?
By S.L. Price
BASEBALL
36 The Royals
Here we are, on the cusp of September, and a team mocked for three decades is drawing a line in the first-place sand
By Ben Reiter
SPECIAL REPORT
40 Curtis Malone
He headed D.C.'s top AAU program—until he was convicted of dealing cocaine and heroin
By Pete Thamel
LONGFORM
48 Kobe Bryant
Even the most competitive athletes must confront The End and its attendant changes
By Chris Ballard
• Roger Federer
• Nick Punto
• Michael Phelps
• Becky Hammon
Departments
2 SI Digital
4 Leading Off
10 Inbox
13 Scorecard
21 Faces in the Crowd
24 Just My Type
Dan Patrick: How Clayton Kershaw keeps it real
68 Point After
Steve Rushin: My latest summer fling: tennis
SI HAS REGIONAL COVERS THIS WEEK: AL TIELEMANS/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (MO'NE DAVIS); ROBERT BECK/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (BRYANT); CHARLIE RIEDEL/AP (ROYALS)
PHOTO
PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDY LYONS/GETTY IMAGES
WINDOW INTO GREATNESS Williams's serve looks dangerous even from the rafters of the Lindner Family Tennis Center, where on Sunday she won the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.