MLK’s message resonates with Serena
Serena Williams leaves political discussions to others, so on Tuesday she politely declined to comment in any fashion on the soon-to-be Donald Trump presidential administration.
That said, Williams is definitely not averse to taking up pertinent social causes as she demonstrated after securing a solid 6-4, 6-3 first-round win against Belinda Bencic in the Australian Open.
Williams came out of the locker room wearing a black T-shirt with the word “EQUALITY” emblazoned in white capital letters across the front.
There was a reason she chose Tuesday to unveil the garment. While it was already Jan. 17 in the land Down Under, back home it was still Jan. 16, which has great civil rights significance.
“With today being Martin Luther King Day, it’s important to spread the message of equality, which is something he talked about a lot, and he tried to spread a lot, is equality and rights for everyone,” she said. “We really want to speak up about things that we believe in and talk about equality. I think it’s a concern for just everyone in general. We want to make sure we always continue to move forward and always have the opportunity to have equal rights for all.
“We don’t want to stop that forward movement. It’s just always great to raise awareness for it.”
Speaking of advancing causes, Williams showed an adeptness at that skill set when it came to her tennis against Bencic, a player capable of giving her a hard time.
They played twice previously, and Bencic won the last meeting, a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 semifinal upset in the 2015 Toronto tournament. That match remains Bencic’s best career victory — she was only 18 and was the youngest player to defeat Williams in a completed match in 11 years.
Williams already holds the record for Australian Open titles at six and won all but one final she has played at Rod Laver Arena. Her Australian Open match record is an impressive 75-10. She plays Lucie Safarova in the second round Thursday (Wednesday night ET).
The 22-time Grand Slam tournament champion wasn’t without a few bumps en route to winning the 1 hour, 19-minute match. She surrendered her serve twice to Bencic, but that was a diminished factor when compared with her breaking Bencic’s serve on four occasions.
“I think it was pretty good,” Williams said. “She’s a really good player. So I think I was able to start out well. I made a few errors on some key points, but (for) the most part, I still was going for everything and I was able to close it out.”
Not to leave another subject without any attention, Williams is turning interest in her recent engagement into a one-nibble-ata-time release of information. This time she gave a glimpse into fiancé Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-owner.
“He’s incredibly a really nice person,” she said, smiling. “I think definitely he treats everyone the same, which is really cool to see. Really, really nice to see.”