Maria Lucier, a retired paralegal from Frenchtown, Montana, was shaking her legs at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the nerves getting to her. Like so many in the U.S. Open crowd on the Friday, she had made a pilgrimage to see Serena Williams make history. Williams was going for a sweep of all four major tournaments of 2015, to clinch the first calendar year Grand Slam since 1988, and Lucien made her first ever trip to the Big Apple to see it happen. “She’s got cojones, you know?” says Lucier, explaining why she “idolizes” — her words — Serena Williams.
But so, it turns out, does an unseeded Italian player named Roberta Vinci, who was about to kill all of Serena’s Grand Slam dreams. “I thought she was going to spank her,” Lucier says. Turns out Vinci’s hands, too, were shaking down on the court; she too couldn’t believe it. Fans trekked in from all over — from Wisconsin, New Orleans, Houston, California, Montana — to see Serena remove any ounce of doubt that she’s the greatest female athlete of all time. They were black and white, women and men, boys and girls, who talked about how Serena inspired them on the tennis court, or to go to the gym when they don’t feel motivated — “I know Serena’s probably working out,” said one fan — or helped boost their own confidence.
She’ll still go down as the greatest. The coronation, however, will have to come later, as Vinci shocked Williams 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in what was supposed to be a sleepy semifinals afternoon. “I think she played literally out of her mind,” Williams said afterward. Vinci didn’t dispute this, calling it the match of her life. But Williams didn’t help herself; she double faulted back to back in the third set, returned soft Vinci serves wide, and was unusually sluggish. Rather than smashing lobs, she lunged at them. “She was moving very slow, no movement in her lower body,” her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou said. “I think she lost her way mentally … Tactically, she didn’t know what to do at a certain point, and when you do the wrong choices, you lose the points you’re supposed to win.”
It was a stunning end to a summer when Williams at times seemed indomitable. At the French Open, Serena got so sick after the semifinals, she was curled up in a fetal position, shivering and crying in the locker room for at least 45 minutes. Her mother and older sister Isha had to undress Williams out of her drenched match clothes as she couldn’t do it herself. Isha made her sip Gatorade and fed her bits of a banana. “Just another bite, just another bite,” she said. She didn’t practice the next day, and Mouratoglou says Williams had a 104 degree temperature at 10:00 pm the night before. “You’re at this distance,” the coach, who was sitting five or so feet away, says, “and you feel the heat of her fever. You’re like, wow, how is she going to play tomorrow?” She beat the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova in straight sets.
30 Legends of Women's Tennis
Li Na understands rebellion. In 2008 she split from the Chinese Tennis Association, which had been taking up to 65% of her tournament earnings. Under a Chinese pilot program for sports stars dubbed Fly Alone, she gave up state funding so that she could hold on to her millions in prize money and choose her coach (who, until recently, was also her husband). Mark Blinch—ReutersAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova first made headlines in 2006, when she defeated Caroline Wozniacki at the junior championships of the Australian Open. Since then, she’s reached the quarterfinals at the 2011 Australian Open, defeated third-ranked Vera Zvonareva at Roland Garros and amassed nearly $2 million in prize money.Al Bello—Getty ImagesAndrea Petkovic immigrated to Germany from Bosnia with her parents when she was just 6 months old. Her father, a former Yugoslav tennis player, coached her at a club in Darmstadt but insisted that she finish high school before pursuing tennis professionally.Elsa—Getty ImagesPetra Kvitova In 2008, Kvitova, then a 17-year-old ranked No. 143 in the world, made headlines by upsetting former top-ranked Venus Williams at a tournament in Memphis. She woke her father back in the Czech Republic at 3 a.m. to tell him the good news and describe her first-ever press conference. Andy Lyons—Getty ImagesCaroline Wozniacki In November 2010, 20-year-old Caroline Wozniacki surged past Serena Williams to grab the No. 1 ranking — and she held tight. The daughter of Polish immigrants to Denmark, she speaks six languages — including Russian and Swedish — and keeps busy off the court by playing the piano and baking with her mom.Streeter Lecka—Getty ImagesYanina Wickmayer of Belgium didn’t pick up a tennis racket until she turned 9. That year her mother died of cancer, and Yanina’s father introduced her to the sport as a distraction from her grief.Matthew Stockman—Getty ImagesVictoria Azarenka knows that her notorious grunting makes Monica Seles sound tame — and she remains unapologetic about it. The 21-year-old Belarusian says the shrieking helps her accelerate and deliver more power to the ball — skills that have taken her to the quarterfinals at four Grand Slams and helped her climb to No. 4 in the world rankings in 2011. Al Bello—Getty ImagesAgnieszka Radwanska What she lacks in power, she makes up for in cunning. Agnieszka Radwanska, relies on tactical accuracy and her understanding of geometry to outfox her opponents, skills that have drawn comparisons to Martina Hingis.Julian Finney—Getty ImagesBethanie Mattek-Sands Fellow players have dubbed her the “rock chick” of tennis because of her tattoos and penchant for motorcycles and the fact that she wore a black dress to her wedding. The 29-year-old brings her free-spirited ways to the court, where she wears knee-high socks and black antiglare paint.Clive Brunskill—Getty ImagesAna Ivanovic As a teenager in war-torn Yugoslavia, Ana Ivanovic practiced in the early morning to avoid bomb raids. When all the courts were destroyed, she used an abandoned swimming pool. “Tennis was definitely a distraction from the war and all of the bad things that were going on in the country at the time,” she says. Elsa—Getty ImagesSamantha Stosur stumbled into tennis at the age of 6 after a flood destroyed her family’s home in Brisbane, Australia. The family — which lost everything — moved to Adelaide with just $5,000, and her parents worked round the clock running a café. To keep Stosur occupied, her older brother hit balls with her at the park, and eventually persuaded his parents to enroll Stosur in tennis lessons.Al Bello—Getty ImagesVera Zvonareva Brutally honest, Vera Zvonareva’s personal website describes the “row of failures” that knocked her out of the top 10 to a lowly ranking of 42nd in 2005. By 2010, however, the 26-year-old had gone on to reach the finals of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon and had risen to No. 2 in the world — all while pursuing a degree in international economic relations in Moscow.Clive Brunskill—Getty ImagesMaria Sharapova Anna Kournikova — the glamorous Muscovite who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1997 — showed Russian tennis players what was possible. But it was Maria Sharapova who confirmed that they could have it all — if they worked really, really hard. She won Wimbledon at 17, went on to take titles at the U.S. Open and Australian Open and earned the No. 1 ranking on four occasions.Streeter Lecka—Getty ImagesKim Clijsters Critics have always said Kim Clijsters lacks the killer instinct that defines greats like Monica Seles and Serena Williams. She rose to No. 1 anyway. The Belgian, who won the U.S. Open in 2005 with her well-placed ground strokes, retired in 2007 so she could have a baby. But in March 2009, in the lead-up to an exhibition match at Wimbledon, Clijsters, then 25, announced that she was returning, partly to help cope with the loss of her father, who had died of skin cancer two months earlier. Matthew Stockman—Getty ImagesJustine Henin's steely determination and cool demeanor didn’t endear her to the masses, nor did her retiring from the 2006 Australian Open final as a result of intense stomach pain. But even her critics have to respect her sublime one-handed backhand, described by John McEnroe as the best in the women’s or men’s game.Cameron Spencer—Getty ImagesSerena Williams's off-court pursuits, which have included acting, launching a collection of handbags and completing 240 hours of course work to become a certified nail technician, are often dismissed by critics. But those pursuits likely account for some of her longevityJulian Finney—Getty ImagesVenus Williams Before her first professional tournament, when she was just 14 and wearing cornrows, Venus Williams had the audacity to tell Sports Illustrated, “I think I can change the game.” That proved prescient. Williams — who honed her skills at a public park in Compton, Calif., while gang members guarded the grounds — brought explosive power to women’s tennis, setting a Grand Slam record with her 129-m.p.h. serve in 2007.Al Bello—Getty ImagesMartina Hingis Drawing on her tactical instinct and unmatched finesse, Martina Hingis championed an elegant style of play that has slowly been replaced by power — and a whole lot of grunting. Born in present-day Slovakia, she clutched her first racket at the age of 2 and entered her first tournament at the age of 4.Tomas Benedikovic—Isifa/Getty ImagesMonica Seles Born in Serbia, Monica Seles, now 40, burst onto the professional tennis scene as a 14-year-old and by the end of her first year on the tour had climbed to No. 6 in the world. Known for her aggressive game and for introducing the grunt to women’s tennis, she became the youngest player ever to win the French Open in 1990, when she defeated Germany’s Steffi Graf, the reigning queen of tennis, in straight sets.Simon Bruty—Getty ImagesArantxa Sanchez Vicaro's ability to chase down the most distant ball earned her the nickname Barcelona Bumblebee. That, coupled with her dogged clay-court style, helped her rise to No. 1 in both singles and doubles — no easy feat in an era that included greats like Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Gabriela Sabatini. Gary M. Prior—Getty ImagesGabriela Sabatini In 1985, 15-year-old Gabriela Sabatini became the youngest-ever player to reach the semifinals of the French Open and finished the year in the top 10, where she stayed for nearly a decade. Her movie-star looks turned her into one of South America’s biggest stars — the media referred to her as the Pearl of the Pampas and the Divine Argentine — and she displayed another kind of beauty on the court, where her topspin tricks and sweeping backhand remain legendary. Bob Martin—Getty ImagesSteffi Graf's father, a car-insurance salesman from Brühl, Germany, taught her how to swing a racket in their living room when she turned 3. She never stopped. Although Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert hit the ball hard, Graf brought new explosiveness to the game: her forehand remains one of the greatest shots in women’s tennis. She contested 31 Grand Slam singles finals and won 22 of them.Pascal Rondeau—Getty ImagesTracy Austin In 1979, 16-year-old Tracy Austin became the youngest player ever to win the U.S. Open when she defeated four-time defending champion Chris Evert 6-4, 6-3. Austin’s deep and unerring ground strokes led her to the title at Flushing Meadows again in 1981, and despite recurring sciatica, she intermittently held the No. 1 ranking.Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesMartina Navratilova Born in Prague, Martina Navratilova wanted to conquer the tennis world, and she knew she had a better shot at doing that in the U.S. than in communist Czechoslovakia. So during the 1975 U.S. Open, American authorities helped her defect, the Czech government subsequently stripped her of her citizenship, and she went on to dominate women’s tennis, winning 18 Grand Slam singles titles.Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesChris Evert With her girl-next-door looks and blond locks, Chris Evert earned the nickname America’s Sweetheart and became one of the first tennis celebrities of the TV era. Born in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 1954, she had a traditional feminine deportment that made parents more comfortable with their daughters’ taking up the sport, and her rivalry with Martina Navratilova fueled interest in the women’s game throughout the 1970s and ’80s.Paul Natkin—WireImage/Getty ImagesEvonne Goolagong The daughter of a poor Aboriginal sheep shearer, Evonne Goolagong shot down the notion that tennis stars had to be groomed at the country club. Born in 1951 — 16 years before Australia even recognized Aborigines in its census — she took up the sport after an encouraging neighbor spotted her peering through the fence at a local court.Focus On Sport/Getty ImagesVirginia Wade The daughter of a British archdeacon, Virginia Wade, now 68, took up tennis as a child growing up in South Africa and honed her game when she moved back to England at 15.Bob Thomas—Getty ImagesRosie Casals now 65, entered tennis as an outsider and a long shot: she was the 5-ft.-2 daughter of immigrants to the U.S. from El Salvador. “The other kids had nice tennis clothes, nice rackets, nice white shoes, and came in Cadillacs,” Casals once told People. “I felt stigmatized because we were poor.” She got over it — and she forced the rest of the tennis world to as well.Ed Lacey—Popperfoto/Getty ImagesMargaret Court Born to poor parents in New South Wales, Australia, Margaret Court, now 71, grew up with an inferiority complex. Her family didn’t have a television or a car, and her first tennis racket was fashioned from the stakes of an old wooden fence. She eventually turned it into gold. Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesBillie Jean King After winning Wimbledon in 1968, the men’s champion, Rod Laver, walked away with $4,800. Billie Jean King, the women’s champion, left with just $1,800. At other events, the gap in pay was even wider. King — who won 129 career titles, including 12 Grand Slam single titles — fought to change that. Ed Lacey—Popperfoto/Getty Images
“Strong is beautiful. And it’s powerful.”
At Wimbledon, a strange–though given modern-day racial and gender politics, unsurprising–brouhaha about her body exploded during her run to the championship. A conservative commentator openly wondered whether Williams was taking steroids, a New York Times story featured an opposing (male) coach and a few players taking veiled shots at her physique, and a few social media trolls called her manly. (Writer J.K. Rowling came to her defense with an epochal tweet: a picture of Williams in a sleek, sexy getup, with the words, “Yeah, my husband looks like this in a red dress. You’re an idiot.”) Such racially-charged remarks have long been part of the Williams sisters’ narrative: last year, for example, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation referred to Venus and Serena as “the Williams brothers.”
During an hour-long interview with TIME at her hotel in Toronto on August 9, where she was in town to play a U.S. Open tuneup tournament, Williams was eager to respond to the dialogue. “It’s important to touch on the body image issues,” Williams says. “I’m interested in doing the best than I can and winning grand slams and being a champion and, you know, everyone has different goals … I’m not out there thinking, OK, I’m not going to go to gymnastics class today because I don’t want to look fit. I literally was born with this most amazing body, and to be historic, and to amazing, and to be badass. And if anyone doesn’t like it, then they don’t have to. Because at the end of the day, I like it. And I know a lot of other people who like it too.”
She’s taken to social media to promote a positive body image. “I started hashtagging strong is beautiful all the time,” she says. “And people have to be in love with who they are, and it doesn’t matter what people say. Negative comments, you’re going to have those naysayers and those people who are unhappy and that kind of hide behind a computer. Or not hide at all. People are bold nowadays, who cares. But strong is beautiful. And it’s powerful. And you know, it’s been amazing for me. It can be amazing for anyone.”
Williams starts listing her favorite attributes. “Am I allowed to say my smile?” she asks. “Is that like a part? I always say my smile, because I think you can walk down the street and smile and make someone happy. But I also love my legs.” She stretches out her left one. “I love my waist too.” Wearing a casual black shirt and white jacket, she points, twice, to her chest. “I mean, hell, I love these ladies,” Williams says, cracking up. “Oh, and I love my ass,” she says, laughing louder.
At Wimbledon, Williams had just won her second Serena Slam — four straight major titles, though not in the same calendar year. “It’s about, oh, she’s muscular,” Williams says. “I just won a Serena Slam. How bout it’s just about that? And I just felt that’s kind of weird. And I was a little surprised. Like, really? And then I felt positive after all the support I got. I went to the gym after that, and I started doing more flips. I’m like, you know what, I’m going to make people get angry and get more fit.”
“What black guy, or woman, was killed this week?”
2015 was also the year Williams started to grow more of a social consciousness. In March she returned to Indian Wells tournament, site of one of the lowest moments of her career. In 2001, Williams was supposed to play her sister in the semifinal, but Venus backed out because of injury. Many in the crowd, convinced that Richard Williams, Venus and Serena’s father, conspired to prevent the sisters from playing one another, jeered Serena in the final. Serena felt a decidedly racist undercurrent. She vowed to never return.
But after reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom, Williams started to change her mind. The book moved her to tears. If Mandela forgave his jailers, how could she still hold such a grudge? Williams takes a deep breath. “I was brought up on forgiveness and love,” Williams says. “Have I shown that? I had to look in the mirror. Maybe I wasn’t treated fairly. That doesn’t matter at this point. But have I been able to let go?” Williams says going back Indian Wells may be the most important moment of her career.
As part of her return, she helped raise money for the Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit dedicated to racial justice and fighting mass incarceration. The recent surge in law enforcement violence against unarmed blacks irks Williams, like it does for so many Americans, particularly African-Americans. In August, after Christian Taylor, a college football player in Texas, was shot and killed by a white police officer in training after an alleged altercation at an Arlington, Texas car dealership, Williams fired off a tweet to her, at the time, nearly 5 million followers: “Really??????!!!!!!!!!!? are we all sleeping and this is one gigantic bad nightmare? #ChristianTaylor how many hashtags now?” It’s been retweeted more than 14,300 times, and is one of Williams’ most viral posts. “I just feel like, as black people, we have to stand up for each other. If I get slack for it, I’m okay with that now. You can hate if you want to. But this is now I feel,” Williams says. “It’s discouraging as a black person in America reading about yet another black person that’s been killed. Oh, what day of the week is it?” Williams looks at her watch. “It’s Monday? OK, so who got killed? What black guy, or woman, was killed this week?”
Williams sees herself taking a larger social role going forward. “I’m comfortable being a pioneer and a leader and an advocate,” Williams says. While she looks up to Muhammad Ali, she’s not going to make that comparison. “I’m still growing and I’m still learning and I would never be presumptuous and say that I’m in that position,” Williams says. “I don’t know if I can impact change. But I do know it’s better than me being quiet.”
“I just really, really honor the fact that she is doing her own thing, she’s her own woman, and she’s like, yeah, I’m going to talk about this,” says Alicia Garza, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. “I’m going to do the work necessary to make sure that we get closer to where we think we need to be. That is exactly what this moment is all about.”
“I’m not going to make any predictions”
Williams stretches out in a SUV while stuck in traffic on the outskirts of Toronto, on her way back to her hotel after an August 10 practice session. She touches on a few other topics between emails and bites of brown rice and salmon. She thinks a favorite media storyline – that Maria Sharapova, a “rival” that Williams has defeated 17 straight times, makes more endorsement money than her – is overblown. “The success of some other woman should be an inspiration to another female,” says Williams. “I don’t know why they make a big deal – she’s done amazing things, she’s gorgeous, who cares? I’m doing good for myself. I’m not struggling.” On if, given her power, she’s given enough credit for her all-around game and tactical ability: “I don’t think so. The thing is I hit really hard serves. People assume that’s what it’s about. It’s OK. I’m like that dark horse you don’t expect that’s happening. She just did that? I was expecting something else.” Is that annoying? “Yeah, I guess it could be if I sat and thank about it. But I try not to let too much bother me. I think if I did, I would be nuts. Totally nuts.”
So where does she see herself in five years? “I can’t answer that cause I definitely see myself five years ago playing tennis,” she says. “Now I’m just like, I’m not going to make any predictions. I could still be on the court. Oh God.”
Don’t expect her to hang up her racket in the immediate future. She’s going to try to break Steffi Graf’s mark of 22 Grand Slam tournament titles; Williams has 21. Margaret Court’s all-time record–24 majors–is within reach. Her diverse passions – fashion, philanthropy, acting – which were once seen as a distraction, have contributed to her longevity. Unlike so many tennis phenoms of the past, Williams didn’t burn out. As she ages, she appreciates and loves the game more and more.
After Friday’s particularly stinging loss at the U.S. Open, however, Williams cut all introspection short. “I don’t want to talk about how disappointing it is for me,” she said in her post-match press conference. “If you have any other questions, I’m open for that.” She darted out of the tennis center into a car. Gone from the Open, yes. But soon to be heard from again.
See the Best Outfits From the 2015 U.S. Open
Serena Williams of the United States returns a shot to Roberta Vinci of Italy during their Women's Singles Semifinals match on Day Twelve of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 11, 2015.Clive Brunskill—Getty ImagesTomas Berdych of the Czech Republic returns a shot against Richard Gasquet of France during their Men's Singles Fourth Round match on Day Eight of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 7, 2015.Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesRoger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their Men's Singles Third Round match on Day Six of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 5, 2015 .Elsa—Getty ImagesAndrea Petkovic of Germany returns a shot to Johanna Konta of Great Britain during their Women's Singles Third Round match on Day Six of the 2015 US Open on Sept. 5, 2015.Clive Brunskill—Getty ImagesSimona Halep during her 2nd round women's singles match against Kateryna Bondarenko on Sept. 3, 2015,Jon Buckle—Empics SportCamila Giorgi, of Italy, returns a shot to Sabine Lisicki, of Germany, during the second round of the U.S. Open in New York on Sept. 3, 2015,Adam Hunger—APTomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, reacts after defeating Jurgen Melzer, of Austria, in the second round of the U.S. Open on Sept. 3, 2015.Kathy Willens—APNicole Gibbs, of the United States, prepares to serve to Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament on Sept. 3, 2015.Adam Hunger—APSerena Williams of USA competes on Day 1 of the 2015 US Open in New York on Aug. 31, 2015.Jean Catuffe—GC ImagesAlexander Zverev of Germany returns a shot against Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany during their Men's Singles First Round match on Sept. 1, 2015.Alex Goodlett—Getty ImagesRafael Nadal of Spain reacts after defeating Diego Schwartzman of Argentina during their Men's Singles Second Round match on Sept. 2, 2015.Clive Brunskill—Getty ImagesVenus Williams of the USA celebrates her match win over Irina Falconi of the USA on Sept. 2, 2015.Elsa—Getty ImagesSabine Lisicki of Germany returns a shot against Camila Giorgi of Italy during their Women's Singles Second Round match on Sept. 3, 2015 .Al Bello—Getty ImagesRoger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Steve Darcis of Belgium during the men's singles round two match on Sept. 3, 2015.Don Emmert—AFP/Getty ImagesCaroline Wozniacki of Denmark reacts against Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic during their Women's Singles Second Round match on Sept. 3, 2015.Al Bello—Getty Images
