Serena Williams to publish memoir about life ‘on and off the court’
Serena Williams is set to publish two books, the first of which, a memoir, will take an “intimate” look at her childhood and remarkable tennis career.
The 42-year-old, regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, announced her retirement from the sport last year. “For so long, all I was focused on was winning, and I never sat down to look back and reflect on my life and career,” she said.
“Over the last year I’ve really enjoyed taking the time with my growing family to celebrate my accomplishments and explore my other passions,” the mother of two added. “I couldn’t be at a more perfect place to be able to take on such a personal, intimate project.”
Publisher Penguin Random House (PRH) said Williams’ forthcoming memoir, which does not yet have a title or publication date, will be an “openhearted exploration of the experiences that have shaped her life”. The book will look at how the tennis star dealt with scrutiny and attacks in a predominantly white and male-dominated sport, as well as “devastating losses on and off the court”. Williams will also share her thoughts on “celebrating body diversity and expanding the confines of style in sports and pop culture” and “bringing awareness to maternal health disparities.” She will tell the story of meeting her husband, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian, and her experience of being a mother to her daughters Olympia and Adira.
The second book, also still untitled, will be an “inspirational” work, according to PRH, in which Williams will “offer rules for living that draw on her experiences as a philanthropist and advocate, and someone who has long sought to lift a diverse and emergent generation of young women whose aspirations are not confined to the court”.
Williams was born in Michigan but learned to play tennis in California and, from the age of nine, at an elite tennis academy in Florida. The story of the
Williams sisters’ childhood was dramatised in the 2021 film King Richard, for which Will Smith won the best actor Oscar.
Williams turned professional aged 14 in 1995 and won her first grand slam title aged 17 at the 1999 US Open. Her tennis career spanned nearly three decades, earning a total of 23 major singles titles and $94,588,910 (£77,718,978) in prize money.
She and her sister, with author Hilary Beard, wrote a self-help book in 2005 titled Venus & Serena: Serving From the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving and Winning, which was published in 2005.Williams published her first solo autobiography, Queen of the Court, in 2010. In 2022 she published a picture book, The Adventures of Qai Qai, illustrated by Yesenia Moises, based on a doll of her daughter’s that has become popular on social media.