Serena has won 349 Grand Slam matches, far surpassing the legendary Martina Navratilova (306 wins). She is the owner of 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 4 Olympic gold medals. She once held the world No. 1 position for 186 consecutive weeks, equal to the legendary Steffi Graf.

Serena changed a part of tennis history. She proved that tennis is also a sport for people of color. However, what makes people admire and respect this tennis queen the most is her boundless love for her children, willing to put aside her passion to choose motherhood and family.

The tennis legend was born on September 26, 1981, in Michigan. She is the youngest of five daughters. Serena Williams grew up in the dusty Los Angeles suburb of Compton, where her father ran a private security company.

Serena began her love for tennis when she was only 3 years old. At that time, she often practiced with her sister Venus on a court near her family’s house. It can be said that Serena was born to play tennis. She has an innate talent for this sport with great skills: Strong, fast, decisive and flexible. Each of Serena’s swings has a rare power.

By the age of 10, Serena’s talent had caught the attention of many people in the tennis industry and after passing her 14th birthday, she began competing professionally. Speaking of this, many people think that Serena’s career path is quite smooth and favorable, but in reality, it was an extraordinary effort.

Serena Williams with her sister on the practice court in 1991.

The Compton practice courts where Serena and her sister began playing tennis were old, smelly, and dangerous. They practiced without a net, with uneven surfaces and drug addicts’ needles stuck in the trees. When a ball rolled into the needle-filled area, Serena had to carefully retrieve it.

In her 2017 autobiography The Undefeated, Venus recounted the time she and her sister Serena witnessed a haunting shooting right across the street from where they practiced. ” A guy jumped out of a car and started shooting. We crouched down on the ground until it was all over before we dared to go home ,” Venus wrote in the book.

” Our practice field was a rundown park,” said Macci, the sisters’ childhood coach. “There were people playing basketball, people drinking beer, passed out on the grass, and glass everywhere .”

Serena began her tennis career playing in local junior tournaments. Her performance was impressive. Soon, Rick Massi, a professional tennis coach, recognized Serena’s natural talent and believed she would soon become a rising star. He invited her family to Florida, where he ran a tennis academy.

The family’s move to Florida was the catalyst that allowed Serena’s passion to flourish and shine. She played her first professional match at 14. Two years later, Serena was ranked #96 in the world. Right after graduating from high school, Serena signed a $12 million endorsement deal with Puma.

However, the road to success is always full of thorns and challenges. No road is paved with roses forever. The ups and downs that Serena experienced and the way she overcame them, conquering the challenges made millions of fans around the world admire her.

When talking about Serena, people not only talk about her talent but also admire her resilience and perseverance in tennis. She has never let herself fall and submit to hardships. It takes great determination and a strong spirit to be able to overcome everything and Serena deserves the title of the strongest “female warrior”.

In early 2000, after a series of defeats and failures, including failing to defend her title at the French tournament, Serena was not discouraged. She and her sister won the gold medal in the doubles event at the Sydney Olympics.

Two years later, Serena suffered an injury that forced her to miss the semi-finals at the Medibank International Sydney and then withdraw from the Australian Open. But Serena then made a spectacular comeback, defeating the world’s top three players: Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals; Venus, her sister in the semi-finals; and Capriati in the final to win the title.

Serena suffered countless injuries but she never allowed herself to give up.

Then, at the prestigious Wimbledon tournament, she defeated her own sister to win the Grand Slam singles title. This made Serena easily become the world’s number 1 tennis player and she was the third African-American to hold this position.

But Serena’s career path has not always been smooth. Once again, she fell into the “abyss” when she suffered a serious injury, forcing her to rest for 8 months. Recovering from each injury and regaining form is extremely difficult and challenging for any athlete.

But Serena once again proved her extraordinary mettle. After returning to competition in March 2004, she won the China Open. Fame always comes with many different consequences. 2006 was a difficult year for Serena when she suffered from depression and had to stop competing for half a year.

She completely cut off contact and closed herself off from the outside world for a while. At that time, Serena saw a therapist every day. Fortunately, after meeting a young girl who was a big fan of Serena, the tennis queen felt re-energized and determined to return to the court once again.

Overcoming mental, emotional and physical obstacles, Serena continued to conquer 8 Grand Slam singles titles. Serena also won gold medals with her sister at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In 2014, Dwyane Wade, a star who won the US Professional Basketball Championship three times, wrote an article in Time titled “The champion who won’t give up”, to praise Serena.

Serena has achieved many remarkable achievements.

Wade wrote: ” More than 10 years ago, I first met Serena in Miami. Since then, I have watched her grow from strength to strength, dominating tennis, overcoming adversity to win title after title.

I respect her relentless work ethic, focus, and discipline. I understand what it’s like to endure injuries and fight your way back from them. I admire her ability to fight back and how she disregards the small stuff with determination and heart.

On the court, Serena is a warrior. Her competitive spirit combined with her passion and superior skills make her a formidable and formidable opponent. Off the court, she is a loving person with an inspiring soul. She is extremely humble and loves her family and life .

She deserves all of her success. Because Serena is one of the hardest working and most disciplined people I know. She is a world class athlete and a champion in every way!

Dwyane Wade

Like many other people of color, Serena Williams faced discrimination and prejudice because of her skin color. In her early years of playing tennis, Serena was looked down upon and scorned because many people believed that this sport was not for people of color.

However, Serena was lucky to have parents who always instilled the most positive things in her to help the tennis queen overcome those storms. Her parents encouraged their children to always love themselves and believe in their choices even when the public was mercilessly scrutinizing them.

” My sister Venus and I started out successful, continued to be successful, and we never looked back. We weren’t afraid to wear braids or wear black in tennis ,” Serena said.

In the HBO documentary, Serena shared that her mother was the one who inspired her to become more confident: ” She taught us how to be real women who believe in and love ourselves, and be proud of our heritage, our hair, and our bodies .”

And when she had her first daughter Olympia, Serena taught the same thing that she had learned from her mother. What did the tennis queen tell her daughter about ‘beauty’?

” When I say ‘you are beautiful,’ I want to teach Olympia that beauty comes from within. Giving is beauty. Kindness and humility are the ultimate beauty ,” Serena emphasized. So what about strength, how does she want her daughter to understand it?

Not only is Serena the best tennis player of all time, she also tries her hand in many different fields: Modeling and business. She completes each role perfectly. In 2018, the tennis queen launched her own fashion collection and attracted attention.

Serena once said: ” Our women look to fashion as a compass to show who they are and to express what they have .”

The clothes that Serena creates also represent a part of who she is: Determined, strong, confident and constantly loving herself. Serena’s beauty products are all limited editions, carefully crafted and edited by her in the best way.

Becoming a mother is a sacred and precious thing for any woman. And Serena Williams is no exception. However, the path to becoming a real mother as the tennis queen desires is a trade-off and sacrifice.

Serena Williams and her partner Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, first met in Rome in 2015. They quickly discovered that they shared a love of art and travel. After a brief courtship, the couple got engaged in 2016. Shortly after, the tennis queen gave birth to their first daughter on September 1, 2017, and named her Alexis Olympia.

Giving birth to a daughter was not easy for Serena Williams, it was truly a “life-or-death” battle. She was forced to have an emergency cesarean section because the fetal heart rate was very low. Before she could rejoice in welcoming her first child, bad news came to Serena: the doctor discovered a huge blood clot in her abdomen and the tennis player had to return to the operating room to prevent the blood clot from entering her lungs, otherwise it would be life-threatening.

The tennis queen was then bedridden for 6 weeks, Serena said it was an extremely scary feeling. After giving birth and recovering, Serena resumed her tennis career but this time it was much more difficult.

Serena is no longer alone, she has a little angel to care for and take care of. Being a mother and a professional athlete, maintaining form and achievements, is not easy.

Daughter is the wonderful and indispensable thing for Serena.

In 2018, the women’s champion spoke about her “postpartum feelings” after the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia. ” It’s been a long, hard week, I’ve been thinking about being a bad mother. I train so hard to be the best athlete I can be and that means I can’t be with my baby as much as I should ,” she wrote on her Instagram account.

On the Mamamia podcast – No Filter, Serena Williams said she prefers to use the term “postpartum feelings” instead of “postpartum depression”: “ Because a lot of people think depression is a bad thing, and for another reason, not every time you feel bad you’re depressed ,” she explained.

To get through that time, Serena Williams talked to many people: close friends, her mother, and her sisters. They helped Serena Williams know that this feeling was normal. Every mother struggles with the same thing in life: making time for her children and wondering if she is good enough. So whether she is a stay-at-home mom or a working mom, every mother is a true heroine.

And recently, Serena made a decision that left the media and public disappointed and regretful: She gave up her professional playing career to devote herself to her family and take care of her children.

This was not an easy choice for Serena. Tennis had been with her since she was a child, it was her life, it contained tears, sweat and glory. Giving up something that was as close to her as her flesh and blood was really difficult.

In an emotional article in Vogue about her “retirement”, Serena shared: ” I know this is a very difficult thing to say, I feel so hurt and I hate it. I hate being at the crossroads to choose.

I’m always torn inside… This sport has given me so much. I love winning. I love competing… My whole life, up until now, has been tennis “.

However, there was something that invaded and grew in her heart and mind: motherly love. Serena Williams once said that the appearance of her daughter Olympia made her life more meaningful and happier, which was a blessing. And like any other normal mother, she always wanted to give her child the best.

Earlier in my career, I had never considered having children. I sometimes wondered if I should bring a baby into this world. I had never been confident or comfortable around babies and children.

I thought if I had a baby, I would have someone to take care of the baby 24/7. But I’m actually a very capable mother.

This year while I was recovering from my injury, I still took her to school, 4 or 5 days a week. I always looked forward to seeing her face light up when she saw me waiting for her. The truth is, I didn’t have to ‘sacrifice’ anything to have Olympia in my life.

Since giving birth, Serena has become an inspiration to mothers who are not discouraged by any difficulties. Always trying to balance between career and taking care of children. They have to try hundreds, thousands of times harder to shoulder many roles at the same time.

Serena’s announcement of her decision to become a mother has been met with support and sympathy from millions of women around the world. Serena doesn’t like to call it “retirement” or “transition” but rather “evolution”. Leaving professional competition is not the end for Serena, she has more important things to do. When one door closes, another opens.

” A few years ago, I quietly founded Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm. Soon after, I got married. I want to grow that family ,” Serena said about her future plans.

Source: AP, Sportytell, People, Vogue

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