It was the year 2001. Serena Williams and Venus Williams were up against each other in the semifinals of the Indian Wells tournament that year. However, the elder Williams sister withdrew from the tournament before that match, raising many eyebrows. Additionally, a section of fans even accused the Williams sisters of match-fixing, and they were also subjected to racist abuse. Although Serena Williams went on to win the tournament, she didn’t return there for over a decade.

The Indian Wells tournament isn’t the only place where the Williams sisters suffered from racist remarks. Right from their childhood, when they ventured into tennis, they were often ill-treated by their fellow players due to their background and skin color. While the two Williams sisters featured in numerous finals, some players didn’t want the two to clash ever.

Highlighting this prejudice and injustice, Williams remembered what she had to go through. Recently, she made an appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival, where she talked about those incidents. Serena Williams narrated, “I remember people saying… we don’t want another Williams Sisters final… I think it boiled down to, We were from Compton, and we were black.”

Statistically speaking, the two Williams sisters have played in 12 finals against each other. They dominated the tennis circuit during their prime and often made it to the business end of the tournaments. As a result, they often found each other in the summit clash. However, many of their fellow players didn’t want the two to feature in the finals. Despite Serena Williams facing massive injustice, she has always remained proud of her skin color.

How did Serena Williams’ skin color strengthen her mental fortitude?

The American tennis legend has been very vocal about the racial injustice prevalent in society. Be it sports or the business world, this injustice has been a common factor everywhere. However, Williams sees this differently and is proud of her skin color.

During a live chat with her husband, Alexis Ohanian, a few years ago, she revealed, “You see things differently because of the color of your skin. I’m just telling you my view, and when you get to see it from my point of view, it’s just totally different. There have been so many situations I’ve been in where I’ve just had to take the high road, even to this day.”

Although Williams faced racial injustice, she emerged stronger than ever from such situations. Thus, she was proud of what she had and said, “I’m proud, I’ve always been proud to be who I am, to be black. And I just feel like I wouldn’t be who I am, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am, I wouldn’t have been able to be as amazing I have been so far in my career, I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t black.”

The American legend has changed the way the world looks at athletes of color. Players like Coco Gauff and Taylor Townsend are reaping the benefits of it, and tennis has come a long way as far as this is concerned.