“I’m just Serena”

For 27 years, Serena Williams has been known as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. From the start of her professional career in 1995, up until the day she announced her retirement from tennis on August 9, 2022, she won match after match, and has become the face of tennis. Because of her celebrity-like status, different minority groups all over the world, especially black women, have grown to look to Williams for help with black and women’s rights increasingly over the years. From starting her own charity called “The Serena Williams Fund,” which donates to racial equalities, to changing the way that people think about tennis as a sport, she has been a pioneer for intersectionality.

Serena Williams was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on September 26, 1981. At the age of 3, her father began coaching her and her sister Venus on their local tennis courts. Shortly later he moved them to Compton, California, seeking out an environment where his daughters could be exposed to the ‘ugly part of life,’ showing them that they must work hard for what they want.

Serena Williams is the only player to ever complete a career grand slam in both the singles and doubles event. In total, Williams has won 23 grand slam titles, 4 Olympic gold medals, 73 singles titles, and out of the 555 matches she played against other top 100 players, she won 78% of them. Additionally, Williams was the second black woman to win a grand slam title (1999) and has won more than $94.6 million dollars from all the matches she won, which is twice as much as any other female athlete.

After one of her most recent wins, she was asked by a reporter if she was surprised by her performance. At this question, she laughed and replied very simply: “I’m just Serena.”

In 2021, Williams made it to the semifinals of the Australia Open but lost to Naomi Osaka. After the win, Osaka was asked by reporters from an unknown source about how she felt about defeating Serena Williams. “I think that her legacy is really wide to the point where you can’t even describe it in words… She changed the sport so much. She’s introduced people to the sport who have never heard of tennis. I think I’m a product of what she’s done,” Osaka stated.

On August 9, 2022, Serena Williams had an exclusive interview with Vogue where she announced her retirement since she was “evolving away from tennis, and toward other things that are more important to [her].”

Williams changed the way tennis is thought of through her unique styles of play and the records she has broken and now holds. She has taught black women and girls all over the world that they are indeed worthy, and they can do anything they want. In an interview with an unknown source, she was asked if she thinks she is the greatest athlete. “Am I the greatest? I don’t know. I’m the greatest that I can be,” she responded.