Tennis legend Serena Jameka Williams has announced that she will be retiring, which I suppose we were all expecting but are nevertheless stunned by.
Hailed not only as the best tennis player in the world, she has also won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era. We are privileged to have had the honour of watching and experiencing her sheer and unrelenting athleticism, which places her firmly in the world’s greatest athletes history books.
Though I could go on about her athletic prowess, what really drew me to Serena and her older sister Venus (also an explosive tennis player in her time) when they first came on to the world tennis circuit was that it was the first time that I, and many black girls like me growing up in the Nineties, had seen someone who looked like me on such a massive stage.
Venus (left) and Serena Williams take time off from a practice session to pose together during the Adidas International event at White City in Sydney, Australia. 16 January 1998. (Photo: Clive Brunskill)
The sisters dominated headlines not only because of what was then considered flamboyant hair and attire, but also because the world was in awe of their unapologetic power, tenacity and athletic prowess, something previously seen as the domain of men.
They played in such a way that they could not be ignored, and with such conviction about their talent and capabilities. In an interview with a 14-year-old Venus, an incredulous journalist asked about an upcoming match.
Interviewer: “Do you think you can beat her?”
Venus: “I know I can beat her.”
Interviewer: “You say it so easily. Why?”
Serena Williams with her sister Venus and father Richard Williams at a tennis camp in Florida. (Photo: Ken Levine )
At this point Richard Williams intervened, visibly annoyed and protective of his daughter, and effectively told the interviewer to stop badgering his daughter and trying to undermine her confidence.
The confidence of the Williams sisters in their talent defied many people’s expectations. Their father, also their coach, propelled them to the heights that they reached. He started coaching them when Venus turned four.
In his biopic, Richard Williams says: “The most dangerous creature on this whole Earth is a woman who knows how to think; ain’t nothing she can’t do.”
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Serena represents for many black women and girls the ability to exist outside of a preconceived mould of what femininity looks and behaves like. She also shows that black women belong in all spheres of our society and can be loud and muscular and show emotion and break unimaginable boundaries to achieve an excellence that cannot be denied or subdued.
In an interview with Vogue magazine on her retirement, Serena said: “There is no happiness in this topic for me. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it.” An indicator that the premium of time needs to be recognised and appreciated because it gives no second chances.
Serena Williams plays a forehand against Edina Gallovits-Hall of Romania during day two of the 2013 Australian Open. (Photo: Robert Prezioso / Getty Images)
It is up to us to cram in as much unfettered and passionate living as we can while time is still on our side. We were all hoping that Serena would win 24 Grand Slams (at least) but this shouldn’t blind us to the magnitude of what it takes to achieve 23 of them while facing odds that would have overwhelmed most of us. All that is left to say now is thank you, Serena. DM168
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.
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In my opinion, this article is defamatory to Blacks, and in particular Black woman, particularly those that have not made great achievements. Your article seems to highlight mass black woman failure opposed to what you are actually trying to say. Can’t the Williams sisters just be great because they are great and have made exceptional achievements. Zukiswa, why do we have to steal the limelight from them by having to bring race into it. I am sure most tennis fans globally who are fans of the Williams sisters celebrate their greatness and don’t care two hoots about their skin color. Unlike the Williams sisters, I am guessing you have a personal color and gender bias for reasons only you would know. Nobody stands in the way of black woman and their ability to achieve greatness. The same applies to all people of varying races, sexual identity, nationality etc. I look forward to the day that these type of articles can be put into historic archives.
Well said indeed…
Not only are you plagiarising (or borrowing too much from) articles from the BostonGlobe and BBC, but you are also just engaging in ideological speech. Did Billie Jean King also break a mould when she was a great athlete while also being a lesbian? What about Martina Navratilova?
It seems like you are saying black woman can only achieve something ‘because of’ their race and should strive for that. I know you are trying to say something was achieved ‘in spite’ of race, but that is not what you are advocating.
Please rethink your race colored glasses.
Regards
Serena fan