Tennis News

In a one-hour interview that aired on ESPN on Sunday, 22-time major champion Serena Williams sat down with rapper and good friend Common, for a wide-ranging discussion touching on race, gender, her impact on both society and sport, and why she should always be in the conversation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

“I think if I were a man, I would have been in that conversation a long, long time ago,” Serena said. “Like six, seven or eight years ago.”

“Any kind of man. White, black, it doesn’t matter. If I was a man it would have been a different conversation a long time ago. I think being a woman is a whole new set of problems from society that you have to deal with.”

Five more insightful moments from Serena’s wide-ranging interview:

On whether she ever felt misunderstood:

“I feel like in the beginning of this journey I was definitely misunderstood. You never saw anything like me or Venus in my field of work, in tennis. We may have said some things that people just couldn’t relate to.”

“Growing up and playing these tournaments when I was younger, I didn’t really see many people that were my color. I was black. So I think I just got used to it. So when you go to Russia or a lot of these countries, you just really stick out.

“But I like to stick out. One thing about me — I don’t want to be everyone else. If everyone is doing something I’m probably going to try it a different way. I just like to be different. I don’t like to fit a mold.”

On being taught to believe in herself:

“If I was playing the No.1 player and I was like ‘Yeah, I think I can be the best, I think can be better than her’ they were like ‘She’s so rude, she’s so disrespectful.’ I never meant anything in disrespect.

“My dad always taught me, if you want to do something you write it down, you believe it, you study it, and then you believe that it’s going to happen. So I believed that I was going to be No.1. I believed that I could be better than who was No.1 at that point.”

On becoming more of a vocal activist for black issues over recent years:

“I was at Wimbledon this year and someone got killed [back home in America] and I was just over it. I’m trying to play a semifinal and I turn on the news and look through social media and it hurts me because they’re my people who are being killed. They look like me. Who’s to say I’m not next? It hurts. It really hurts.”

In London I have to wake up to this. He was black. Shot 4 times? When will something be done- no REALLY be done?!?! pic.twitter.com/OaLn60G6nm

— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) July 7, 2016

On body image:

“There was a time where I didn’t feel incredibly comfortable about my body because I felt like I was too strong. But then I had to take a second and think ‘Well who says I’m too strong?’ This body has enabled me to be the greatest player I can be. I’m not going to scrutinize that! This is great! This is amazing! Now my body is in style so I’m feeling good about it. I’m finally in style! Took a while to get there.”

On her legacy:

“We literally took the globe and shook it, me and Venus because we came from Compton, we came from nothing. In tennis you have to have something. We came and we conquered. And I shouldn’t have to apologize for saying and believing that I can be the best.”

Watch the entire interview at The Undefeated.

With the @AustralianOpen quickly approaching, @serenawilliams turns up the training intensity in Florida. ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/xoLjI6FhG9

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) December 16, 2016

Serena is set to kick off her 2017 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, which begins on January 2nd.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

2016 Quick Hits
Week 1 Ranking: No.25
Year-End Ranking: No.9
Season Highlights: Sydney, Moscow Champion, Miami RU
Best Major Result: 4R (French Open, Wimbledon)

2017 Outlook

Kuznetsova played her best tennis at the beginning and end of 2016, kicking off what promised to be another rollercoaster season with a run to the Apia International Syndey final – defeating then-World No.2 Simona Halep en route.

The Russian continued her newfound consistency through the Miami Open, where she stunned World No.1 Serena Williams to reach her first final in Florida since 2006. Looking like an early favorite to play her first BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global since 2009, Kuznetsova’s Singapore hopes came down to the wire during the Asian Swing, where she played a thrilling match to defeat defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open.

Needing to win a second straight Kremlin Cup title to gaurantee the final WTA Finals berth, Kuznetsova defended a title for the first time in her storied career, and quickly became the story of the round robin stage, defeating Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova to finish first in her group.

“I play with my heart,” she said in Singapore. “I always did, but some things are just starting to work now. Maybe I’ve started to believe a little bit more than before. I’m just hanging in there more. I’m seeing other things more clearly, too; some things come together and you get confidence.

“I see opponents fear me more than before because I win matches, I fight, and I’ll be there. It doesn’t matter if I play like crap and I’m sore, I will just be there.”

Kuznetsova played her best tennis when forced to fight, winning a tour-leading 22 three-setters in 2016. She narrowly lost in the Singapore semfinals to eventual champion Dominika Cibulkova, but nonetheless finished at her highest year-end ranking in seven years, and will hope to use her renewed confidence to live an even greater “Life of a Hustler” in 2017.