Serena Williams is the best athlete that Tennis has seen in a long time. There, I said it. Actually, it isn’t me. Just glance at her record-breaking career (read: 23 grand-slam wins) and you’ll know what I mean. But apart from business, I also intend to tell you all about the empowering icon she is.
To begin with, Serena played and won the Australian Open grand slam, pretty much blurring the lines between what’s possible and what’s not. Oh, while at it, she also managed time to kick sexist and racist standards in the balls (ask McEnroe about it).
If that was bland for your taste, remember how she posed nude for Vanity Fair looking like a Goddess?
Well now, in a tell-all interview to Vogue, Serena has finally opened up about the entire episode and it is a must read.
“Being black and being on the cover was really important to me.”
“The success of one woman should be the inspiration to another, and I’m always trying to inspire and motivate the black girls out there. I’m not a model. I’m not the girl next door. But I’m not hiding.”
Getting the cat out of the bag, the star athlete also addressed the issue of race and ethnicity in sports like never before. She said,
But that’s not all.
Serena Williams also opened up about the maternity phase she is in and it is overwhelming. She spoke about her inhibitions as a first-time mother.
“I’m nervous about childbirth. I’m not a spring chicken.”
“The one thing I really want is an epidural, which I know a lot of people are against, but I’ve had surgeries galore, and I don’t need to experience any more pain if I can avoid it.”
In fact, the star athlete also confessed her biggest fear so far.
“I always ask, Am I going to be good enough?”
But the good news, Serena confirmed she is not saying goodbye to tennis anytime soon…
And I don’t know about you, but it certainly feels like a piece of news we, the women of today, were waiting to hear. Thank you, Serena. Thank you for encouraging and empowering moms-to-be, especially of colour, to be comfortable in their own skin.