Serena Williams Opens up on Struggles of Playing ‘Predominantly White’ Sport

Former World No.1 Serena Williams has been an inspiration for a lot of new players. Throughout her career she has been fantastic and has various trophies to show for it.

Serena Williams has a clothing brand named ‘Serena’. And now with lockdowns in place, Serena posts new videos from the IGTV account of the clothing brand. She posts every Saturday under the hashtag #SerenaSaturday. So yesterday she posted her conversation with Bryan Stevenson, the founder and Executive Director of The Equal Justice League, a human rights organization.

Serena spoke about various topics. She stressed a lot about her career, how she and Venus weren’t celebrated much by everyone on the tour.

“I have gone through a lot in my career and in my life. When Venus and I were winning every week here grand slam final every time it wasn’t a celebration on the tour,” said Serena.

“I have played against crowds” – Serena Williams.

Also speaking on the sport, Serena expressed that she and Venus weren’t credited much for their victories. They would have to deal with the crowd, fans, and even opponents. They have won so much but still, people have a certain bias against them.

“If Venus would play before me and I’m in the locker room and I hear the crowd cheer loud my heart would sink because I know either Venus lost or she scored a point, but if it is a complete silence then I will be like yes she is winning,” she said.

“I have not only played against the opponent I have played against crowds, I have played against fans I have played against people” she added.

Serena adores her fans. She has one of the strongest fan bases and they have been with her since her start. She has been in different circumstances and has had to work hard to earn these fans.

“I have had a tremendous amount of fans and it’s been a wonderful experience but I have worked hard to get to this experience,” she said.

Read More: WATCH: Serena Williams Recalls Venus Williams’ Emotional Victory At Wimbledon

She also pointed out her key observations about the sport. She said that the sport is predominantly white and she battled through it. People have had a perception that Serena is athletic and that’s why she is winning. But Serena says that she uses her brain much more than she is credited for. Serena is as strong mentally as she is physically and that’s what has driven her to win 23 grand slams.

With 2020 being disruptive, grand slam tennis is going to resume in two months. Serena has announced that she will be taking part in this year’s US Open. She will be practicing hard to again be a grand slam champion and break a few more records.