Serena Williams may not have achieved her goals in 2016, but
her expectations is that she should be called a legend in the sport that
brought her fame and fortune.
She reached three Grand Slam finals, but won only one in the
follow-up to a year of such dominance and grace. Along the way, she lost her No
1 world ranking after 157 weeks, but she made up for that in a different,
typically distinctive way. In an interview with ESPN’s “The Undefeated”, Serena
said:
“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that
conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is just a whole new set of
problems from society that you have to deal with, as well as being black, so
it’s a lot to deal with and especially lately. I’ve been able to speak up for
women’s rights because I think that gets lost in colour, or gets lost in
cultures.
Women make up so much of this world, and, yeah, if I were a
man, I would have 100 per cent been considered the greatest ever a long time
ago.”Male athletes, including LeBron James and Colin Kaepernick,
have not been hesitant to speak up about violent events or during the election
cycle, but, as a woman and an African American in a sport long dominated by
white people, Williams has had to overcome a self-preserving instinct to
suppress her opinions.
“It’s very challenging because sometimes when things are
blatantly wrong and blatantly unfair and blatantly racist or sexist, I just
have to go and put on a brave smile and not let anyone know how I feel on the
inside so they don’t get that satisfaction even though on the inside I would be
dying,” Williams said.
Along the way, Williams has, she says, come to “embrace” her
appearance after being targeted by body-shamers around the internet.“There was a time when I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable
about my body because I felt like I was too strong. I had to take a second and
think, ‘Who says I’m too strong? This body has enabled me to be the greatest
player that I can be.’
And now my body is in style, so I’m feeling good about it.
[Laughs.] Like, I’m finally in style! It took awhile to get there. I’m just
really thankful for the way I was brought up by my mom and my dad to give me
that confidence.I could have been discouraged, and I wouldn’t be as great as
I was because I would have done different exercises or I would have done
different things. I totally embrace who I am and what I am.”
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