"Monica Seles had this really cool grunt" - Serena Williams credits Seles as the inspiration behind her grunt, hilariously imitates legend
Serena Williams has credited Monica Seles as the inspiration behind her distinctive grunt, disclosing how she looked up to the nine-time Grand Slam champion during her childhood. Williams also hilariously demonstrated her imitation of the tennis legend's iconic grunt.
Williams is set to put her taste buds to the test as she makes an appearance on 'Hot Ones,' where she will be interviewed by host Sean Evans over increasingly spicy chicken wings.
In a preview for the highly anticipated interview, the 23-time Grand Slam champion expressed her excitement for indulging in the chicken wings and hot sauce.
"I'm excited to be here and eat some chicken wings and eat some hot sauce. Some of my favorite things," she said.
When asked why tennis players grunt, Serena Williams revealed that her own grunt originated from her childhood admiration of Monica Seles' "really cool" yell and hilariously imitated the former World No. 1.
"So I grunt because growing up Iiked this tennis played named Monica Seles and she grunts. She had this really cool grunt. It was like...," she said as she imitated Seles' grunt.
"And then it just became natural and then my grunt just became like a...," she added.
This isn't the first time Serena Williams has opened up about drawing inspiration from Monica Seles. During an appearance on the 'Late Show with David Letterman' in 2009, the former World No. 1 called Seles her "role model" when it came to grunting, disclosing that she modeled her own grunt after the nine-time Grand Slam champion.
"She's like the first person that I know that really used to grunt really loud and really hard, so that's kind of how I modeled my grunt after,'' Williams said. "Yeah, because you have to have role models when it comes to grunting."
Serena Williams: "Monica Seles was my favorite player growing up, I wanted to be just like her"
In a 2018 interview with GQ, Serena Williams revealed that Monica Seles was her childhood idol, shedding light on her desire to emulate the former World No. 1's playing style.
"I always really loved Monica. I always wanted to just play like Monica. She was my favorite player growing up, and I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to hit like her, and I wanted to play like her," Serena Williams said.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion also shared that she relished the opportunity to compete against Seles, disclosing how her knowledge of the Yugoslav-born American's game gave her the edge in their encounters.
"Having the opportunity to play her was like, all right, cool, I got this. I knew her game because I watched her so much, and I wanted to go into the next Grand Slam and not have to be in the qualifying, so for me, it was like, I have to win these matches; I have to do well in this tournament," she said.
Serena Williams and Monica Seles locked horns in five tour-level encounters, with Williams enjoying a 4-1 lead in their head-to-head record.