By Lucy Ottley

Serena Williams’ last match. Photo credit: @serenanews via Twitter.

It was Friday, September 2, 2022, and I was sitting on the couch with my mom watching Serena Williams’ last match. I wanted her to win so badly, because she had announced that this would be her last match for a while. She was playing in the US Open against Ajla Tomljanović from Australia. It was a very close match, and they went into a tiebreaker for the third set. I have been playing tennis since I was six years old, so I noticed myself constantly watching her attitude and footwork. She held it together for the most part, until the third set. In the third set, I could tell she was getting tired and could not go for much longer. I kept thinking back to everything she went through as a child and how she got to where she was on the court. This match showed who she was and really showed that she can fight back, leaving it all on the court.

Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, and is the youngest of five daughters. When she was born, her father Richard Williams was determined to make her and her sister, Venus, professional tennis players. At this time, there were not many African American women tennis players on tour. However, that did not stop him or the sisters from fighting every day to change this. Her father learned the game of tennis and moved his family to Compton, California, where the two sisters began intense training sessions for tennis. Williams was only three years old at this time. These training camps did not take place on fancy hard tennis courts; they took place on cracked courts that had grass growing on them, which made them better players, because they got used to playing on courts that might cause the ball to bounce differently. They had to have great footwork to get the balls that bounced erratically. The 2021 movie King Richard goes into more depth about their journey as tennis players when they were younger. The film stars Will Smith as Richard Williams and was produced by the Williams family.  

At the age of 10, all of Williams’ hard work seemed to be paying off. She joined the United States Tennis Association tour, and soon after, she was ranked number one in the 10-and-under division. Just four years later, Williams was playing in her first pro tennis tournament in Quebec City, as a wild card, in 1995. 

Serena Williams after beating Diara Safina in 2007. Photo credit: Fergal Carr via Wikimedia Commons.

She continued to compete and train, and by the time she was 17, she won her first Grand Slam mixed doubles title at Wimbledon in 1998, with Croatia’s Max Mirnyi as her partner. She came back the next year and beat Martina Hingis to win her first singles Grand Slam at the 1999 US Open. The following year, in 2000, she and her sister Venus both won their first Olympic Gold medal in doubles. Her success seemed to just be getting started. 

Throughout Williams’ whole career, she struggled with unequal treatment due to her race and background. She has said in interviews “that it’s not just the opponents. That it’s the crowds. The tournament organizers. Even the advertisers.” When she traveled to the Indian Wells Tournament in California, in 2001, she was not met with a kind group of fans. When she stepped on the court, the fans immediately booed. In an interview with ESPN, Williams said, “I went over on the changeover, and I prayed to God just to help me be strong, not even to win, but to be strong, not listen to the crowd… I just wanted some strength to go on.” She has overcome many obstacles that come with being a female African American tennis player. However, these situations have made her stronger and more eager to fight for her spot at the top. Over the next fifteen years, Williams won 22 Grand Slam titles. 

Williams was at the Italian Open in 2015 when internet entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian caught her eye. At breakfast, she asked him to sit and have breakfast with her and her friends. Williams felt a strong connection with him and invited him to watch her play in the French Open in 2015. Following her win at the French Open, they went on their first one-on-one date in Paris. Throughout the next week, they traveled around Paris and got to know each other. Ohanian had never watched tennis before, but his interest in Williams caused him to want to learn more and watch her play. They continued to talk over the phone for months, and soon they both knew this relationship was developing into something deeper. 

Serena Williams playing in the 2013 US Open. Photo credit: Edwin Martinez via Wikimedia Commons.

In 2017, at the Australian Open, Williams took a pregnancy test and found out she was going to have a baby. Williams played her heart out in this Open and defeated her sister, Venus in the final, 6-4,6-4. After winning this Open, she was one behind having the all-time record for most Grand Slam titles in the Open era. This pregnancy did not stop her from wanting to come back and finish what she started; she did not give up or see her pregnancy as something that would get in the way. She knew this pregnancy would make her stronger because she had to fight to come back and get to where she wanted to be after giving birth. Williams said, “This [motherhood] is just a new part of my life. My baby’s going to be in the stands and hopefully cheering for me.” 

When Williams gave birth to her daughter, Olympia, on September 1, 2017, there were many complications. Williams has a history of blood clots. In 2010, Williams’ doctors diagnosed her with blood clots in her lungs, and later her doctors discovered she had a hematoma in her abdomen. Williams knew she had this condition, so as soon as she lost feeling in her legs after giving birth, she knew something was wrong. Many of the doctors were not concerned; however, Williams knew her body and continued to speak up. Williams says, “Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me.” Williams knew her body and was confident that the doctors needed to take her for a CT scan, and she did not give up, even when the doctors did not believe her at first. Only three days after Williams’ surgeries and giving birth, she was able to return home with a healthy baby and a healthy self. 

When Olympia, Williams’ and Ohanian’s first child, was only three months old, her parents got married on November 15, 2017, in New Orleans. The newlyweds and new parents settled into their home in Miami.

Serena, Alexis, and Olympia. Photo credit: @serenawilliams via Twitter.

The HBO Max series Being Serena profiles Williams’ life after giving birth. The show talks about how Williams returned to training after her wedding because “the only reason I’m playing is to be number one.” She trained for a few months and entered her first exhibition in Abu Dhabi right before the new year in late 2017. Playing in the tournament, Williams said in episode four, “It was strictly to send a message that women can be strong. You can do what you want, and you can dream big.” Even though Williams did not win this match, she saw what her future could be, because she was excited to be back on the court and work hard to achieve her goals. 

No matter what happened in each match after her comeback, she never once decided to give up. It is interesting to see everything she went through as a child and the challenges she faced as a Black woman when fans and people in the tennis world did not accept her. When I think about my life and my frustrations on the tennis court, like missing a shot or double faulting, I now think about everything Williams went through and how she pushed through the hard times and continued to do what she loved. I think about her strength to overcome challenges and tell myself that I need to focus on what I can control, focusing on future shots instead of past shots or misses.  

When Williams announced last year that she would be stepping away from the court for a while and may not return, I was immediately intrigued to watch every match that she played. Watching her play in the US Open last year, I found myself watching her footwork and focusing on each point, because footwork is what I struggle with most in my own tennis game. Watching her slide and constantly moving her feet inspires my own game. 

Williams is not only the greatest tennis player of all time because of how many medals and tournaments she has won, but also because of her determination, dedication, and work ethic. She is able to accomplish her goals and not worry about what others say or think, because, in the end, it is her life, and she knows what she wants and will not stop until she gets it.

Featured image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Paulobrad.