Who Is Serena Williams?

Serena Williams is a name that almost everyone recognises. No wonder! She is the fiery, talented and competitive girl that transformed herself into one of the best, if not the best, women’s tennis player ever. Her level of competitiveness is extraordinary and the determination we all see on her face as she ace’s her next opponent is scary. We don’t only love Serena because of her tennis skill; she is down to earth as well. She is someone who makes people watching tennis stay on the edge of their seat.

Serena Williams’ first contact with tennis was at an unbelievable age of 3. Her first tennis tournament was at the tender age of 4 and a half. Early on in her tennis career, her father, Richard coached her and her older sister, Venus. Serena
Rick Macci began coaching Serena when she was just 9 years old. Macci stated that Serena was “either going to be number 1 in the world, or she will go to jail.” An anecdote from this early time is quite telling. When talking about how Serena played with other children Macci said "I could remember playing tag with all the other kids in the sand pit. Just to work on agility, dexterity, you know. When she (Serena) played tag, she played with a closed fist”. This attitude showed that Serena had a natural competitiveness and was willing to do anything to win. Arguably, this is the main reason she has been so successful. As a child she did not just participate in tennis, but also enjoyed boxing, Taekwondo, and gymnastics. To maintain her form as an adult Serena puts in about 5 hours of exercise a day. This includes 3 hours of tennis followed by 2 hours of cardio and strength training. In addition to this, Serena does Bikram yoga and Pilates two or three times a week. While Serena is a serious professional sportswoman she also has a humourous side to her personality, which many can relate to. She was quoted saying “I can never turn down a good piece of cherry pie, but all I know is that in 10 years, I don’t want to be as wide as the couch.” This shows there is good reason for working out five hours a day, another than being able to obliterate your opponents, so you can enjoy some cherry
It is evident that she is someone who has changed the tennis world for the better. She has had win after win, title after title, adding up to 22 Grand Slam Titles. Serena has had to fight her way through losses and injuries as well. Her determination to get the job done throughout her whole tennis career is incredible. This is shown in the five hours she invests every day in training. Her ambition is to supersede Steffi Graf in the number of Grand Slam titles won. Tennis has and still is a massive part of her life. It is everyone’s dream to be able to do their hobby as a job, and Serena is one of the lucky few to be able to do this. In the near future, it would not be surprizing for Serena to smash her way through another tournament, making herself the best women’s tennis player in