If you watched me in a tennis match against an opponent of any skill level, you would most definitely be hunched over in laughter within minutes of the game starting. Tennis has never been my strong suit as an athlete, but the sport still holds a special place in my heart because of its most famous female competitor, Serena Williams, who inspired me from a young age to pursue athletics. But this should come as no surprise since Serena, with her record-holding 362 Grand Slam singles matches wins and 23 major titles, has been inspiring women of all ages since her professional tennis debut in 1995.
Growing up with a desire to play sports, I remember being exposed to big-time male athletes for sources of inspiration and motivation, but there weren’t any female faces in the line-up to compare myself to. Michael Phelps, Peyton Manning, Clayton Kershaw, Lebron James and Tiger Woods were amongst the elite group being highly promoted in the United States athletic world throughout the early 2000s, but where was the female representation?
I remember the first time I watched Serena Williams competing in a tennis match alongside her sister Venus: her confidence, athleticism and fierceness were a sight to behold, and I kept her name in the back of my mind for years to come. With ample success in tennis, “Serena Williams” became a household name as she began breaking down the boundaries of gender norms in professional sports, becoming one of the most famous and successful athletes of all time. And I’d like to emphasize that she’s not famous for being a remarkable “female athlete,” she’s an all-around remarkable athlete.
Without a doubt, Serena Williams has been the biggest athletic inspiration in my own journey playing sports, from rec-league to high school years, as well as just working out to build healthy habits amidst a busy college-life schedule. In all aspects of being an athlete, Serena has shown that hard work and belief in oneself can bring about any amount of success imaginable. Not only has she dominated for nearly three decades, but she has shown the depth of her dedication to tennis by re-entering the competitive world less than a year after giving birth to her daughter, Alexis. Now she juggles motherhood with an athletic career, inspiring a whole new group of women to pursue athletics, despite the many obstacles that inevitably stand in their way.
As we celebrate Black History Month and the many famous faces that have brought about change to our faulted and flawed society, the name “Serena Williams” should without a doubt be celebrated too, as her work in the athletic industry has truly inspired millions of people around the world for many years. And while today she’s more likely to be seen gracing our television screens in Gatorade and Subway commercials rather than in tennis matches, her name will last the test of time due to the major impact she has had on society in just the forty short years she’s been alive.