When life gives you lemon, make lemonade! Similarly, when life gives you too many critics, serve aces on their faces like Serena Williams. Remember the 2007 season? Williams suffered a knee injury in 2006, which kept her out of action for almost six months. Although she came back and played three tournaments, she dropped to the 95th place in the women’s singles ranking. Critiques made their displeasure known from every corner, and this led her to conclude, “The general consensus was that I was a big fat cow.” She recently spoke about all those issues in her docuseries ‘In the Arena: Serena‘.
Williams entered the 2007 AO unseeded. The tennis world raised their eyebrows seeing her slow movement in the opening rounds and they claimed she was overweight. However, the ‘Queen‘ was always determined, regularly slapping her thighs and swearing at herself for motivation. No one predicted she would reach the final, but her incredible willpower saw her through in the finals against Maria Sharapova.
She dedicated that emphatic triumph to the memories of her beloved sister, Yetunde. “It was an awesome win because I had so many critics, so many people talking bad and saying negative things and saying I wasn’t fit,” said Serena Williams.
The journey was never a bed full of roses for this American tennis star, but she overcame every hurdle that came her way in her own style! Recalling all those negative comments during the 2007 season, Serena Williams said a few words in her docuseries. The 42-year-old stated, “They were used to seeing women that didn’t have a figure, and I was a Black woman with a figure. And that doesn’t make you bad or doesn’t make you well! It just makes you a girl with a butt and a small waist.“
It’s never easy to be on those big stages playing tournament after tournament with someone commenting about his/her body. She often has opened up about her body insecurities in growing up comparing herself to her sister Venus Williams. However, now she thinks she has learned to embrace the differences and tackle the negativities in her own way. Who helped her in the process though?
“I was really struggling” – Serena Williams reveals the name of that person who showed her the light in a dark tunnel
Even two years after 2007, Williams had to face a similar situation when her looks gained more focus than her actual game. Then there were times when she felt, “People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms, or because I’m strong. I was different to Venus: she was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular.” Williams felt top tennis players, in general, didn’t look like her. Perhaps that might be one of the reasons why people showered her with question marks on whether she can also win matches with these looks.
However, her sister, Yetunde, who’s no longer with us gave her a lesson that she still remembers to date. Serena was really struggling a lot with these issues in that phase of her career. However, Yetunde told her, “You know, everyone is different. You’re not Venus, and you’re never going to be Venus. You’re never going to be as thin as her, and that’s okay.“
She told her she was never going to be as tall as her, and that was quite okay. Nothing is wrong with that. Her sister always wanted her to believe that she had a beautiful body and a beautiful face on her own. This is the exact point of time when Serena Williams started to feel more comfortable with whom she was rather than paying any heed to negative comments.
