“I don't know why I said that, because quite frankly I kind of sucked at the time” – Serena Williams recalls the video of her 11-year-old self manifesting greatness
Serena Williams recently guest-starred on the first episode of Meghan Markle’s newly released podcast 'Archetypes'. The tennis legend shed light on various aspects of her career - good, bad and everything in inbetween.
In one such narrative, Markle touched on Williams’ fearlessness as a child. The Duchess of Sussex recalled a clip of Williams where she manifested achieving greatness in the formative years of her career.
“Well, and YOU were fearless as a little girl, and so confident. I was watching a clip, I think we have when you were 11 and they said if you were a tennis player, who would you want to be like? Do you remember this? Do you remember what you said?” Markle asked.
Refreshing her memory, Williams revisited the time she confidently declared to an interviewer that she wanted people to be like her rather than the other way round.
“I do. I said I wanted people to be like me. Honestly, I couldn't have written that better. I don't know why I said that, because, quite frankly, I kind of sucked at the time, but maybe I knew something. I don't know,” Williams recalled.
'I'd like other people to be like me' - Serena Williams on @TransWorldSport 👑
#kingrichard #sports #tennis #inspiration https://t.co/WS7YqWbixL
The pair further connected on how with experience, their fearlessness started to diminish. Williams, who is slated to play the final tournament of her career at this year’s US Open, confessed that she had had many bad experiences at Flushing Meadows.
“I think fearlessness is super important. I think as you grow with the experience that you get, you think of it as a wound - if you burn yourself, obviously you don't touch the fire again. So you're learning behaviors that make you stop and that gives you this healthy fear. And then we also, unfortunately, gain through our experience, some unhealthy fears.” Williams noted.
“And I know I've experienced that in tennis for sure, when, you know, I've had a lot of bad experiences in New York. It's been hard. And I know a lot of people have seen it. There are some experiences I didn't deserve at all,” she admitted.
Serena Williams was referring to her US Open quarterfinals against Jennifer Capriati in 2004, where she had a slew of decisions go against her.
“I see it in Olympia; I see, like, how fearless she is” – Serena Williams on raising her daughter to be fearless
Serena Williams disclosed that she encourages her daughter Olympia to be courageous and unafraid. The 23-time Major champion is wary of ingraining her fears into her 4-year-old’s mind.
“I see it in Olympia. I see, like, how fearless she is. And I encourage her because I'm afraid of heights. And she, like, embraces it because I don't want her to take on my fears. And I think that's important that when you're raising a child you don't let them take on your fears,” she said.
Olympia Ohanian, along with her father Alexis Ohanian, recently went on her first hiking trip. Her father shared details of the exciting adventure on his social media.
"Olympia Ohanian's first hike. It was not a long hike," Alexis Ohanian wrote.