Why 2018 has to be Serena’s most forceful year yet
● Serena Williams might find 2018 the most meaningful campaign of her career. After a 14-month maternity leave, she returned to the court in March a wife, mother and the winningest player in tennis. Over seven tournaments she recovered her footwork and lightning-fast serve, donned a catsuit at the French Open and reached the final at Wimbledon and in New York.
But her impact off the court set her apart. This year, Super Serena used her voice to give the public a window into her fears, her conflict and her pain. The 23-time grand slam champ provided herself with an alter ego: a relatable, flawed everymom who cried when she made the decision to stop breastfeeding, missed her daughter Olympia’s first steps while at work and admitted to days when she felt she wasn't cutting it as a mom.
Williams, 37, had struggled plenty during her 20-year career. But this season, she had boundless support from fans who followed her to tournaments and on social media. Women — and men — who once believed they had nothing in common with a superstar athlete, felt connected to a mom who suddenly seemed a lot like them, whether or not they were parents.
I interviewed more than 20 people closest to her. They described Williams with words rarely used about her by television commentators and sportswriters: “shy” and “insecure”, “awkward”, “silly”, “funny” and “a goofball”. I asked them why fans and reporters didn’t have access to the same Serena they described to me.
Their answers were simple: fear. “She was trying to protect herself,” her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, reiterated to me two days before this year’s US Open final. “That’s something you can understand for someone who has her status.”
But slowly, and with the help of social media, Williams began to chisel away the wall. She joined Snapchat, posted videos of herself doing splits, dancing in front of a mirror and singing karaoke at dinner with friends. She spoke out about police violence against African Americans in an emotional post on Facebook, and continued to be vocal on the topic of equal pay. Her followers — she has 10 million on Instagram and 10.9 million on Twitter — asked for more.
“Once she started to open up, what she got back encouraged her to open up even more,” Mouratoglou said. “This year the connection with the crowd was at another level. People feel close to her and give to her, and she gives back.”
Over the past year, Williams became a voice for mothers and future mothers on the WTA Tour, for women dealing with postpartum depression and for African American women who are more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.
Williams divulged the details of her emergency C-section and the three surgeries that followed when she developed blood clots in her lungs. Knowing her body and the signs of pulmonary embolism, a condition with which she has a history, Williams urged her doctors to administer a CT scan of her chest, which revealed clots that might have been missed.
After Williams lost to Angelique Kerber in the final at Wimbledon in July she choked back tears as she told the crowd: “For all the moms out there, I was playing for you today.”
“We love you, Serena!” they responded.
That relationship came to a head during the US Open final against Naomi Osaka in September. When chair umpire Carlos Ramos gave Williams a coaching penalty in the second set, Williams believed he had questioned her integrity, and that the penalty could be interpreted as her being called a cheat. “I’d rather lose than cheat,” she said.
When Ramos docked Williams a game for calling him a “thief”, the crowd largely reacted in defence of Williams, responding with boos that will be the soundtrack to Osaka’s first grand slam win. Williams’ fans forgot about the young woman who had played brilliantly against her idol. Williams silenced the boos.
But not everyone came to Williams’ defence. After the match, many who had once praised her questioned her behaviour.
Over the following weeks, Williams continued to call attention to what she believes is sexism within the sport.
As part of a Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Williams recorded a version of The Divinyls hit, I Touch Myself. In the video Williams stands topless in front of a camera, her arms crossed in front of her chest, and sings beautifully and fearlessly.
“Her willingness to be so open was her choice and people tell me they feel motivated by what she’s done,” her sister, Venus, told me shortly before the US Open. “Serena is going to impact lives for years in ways she never imagined.” — espn.com
Serena is going to impact lives for years
Venus Williams
Tennis player and sister of Serena Williams