Serena Williams on Jimmy Kimmel Live: "I wasn't supposed to be Serena Williams, I was just a kid that was trying to be like my sister"
Serena Williams recently appeared on popular talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, to promote her father's upcoming biopic "King Richard". The film releases in American theaters on 19 November, and stars Hollywood actor Will Smith in the titular role.
During the show, Serena Williams recalled a childhood incident where her father didn't allow her to compete at a tournament due to her age at the time. Determined to get into competitive tennis, the young Serena discreetly signed up for an event where her elder sister Venus was scheduled to participate.
When the Williams family were busy preparing to watch Venus' match at the tournament, Serena sneaked out to play her own match. She eventually won it, which convinced both her and her parents that she was destined to excel in the sport.
"You know I wasn't supposed to be Serena Williams, I was just like a kid that was trying to be like my sister," the 23-time Major champion told Jimmy Kimmel. "I got tired of waiting, I'm like 'Dad, I want to play tennis, I want to play in this tournament' and he's like 'You're too young'. So I literally filled out the form, I signed up and then I mailed it in. So when we went to the tournament that Venus was in I was just playing my own match."
"I waited till they go watch her match and, this is in the movie, so yeah they went to go watch Venus play and I was like snuck away with my little racket and I played a match and I won," she added. "It was like clearly I was meant to play, I was meant to play tennis at that point.
Jimmy Kimmel went on to ask the 40-year-old about her first-round retirement at Wimbledon 2021, due to a mid-match hamstring injury caused by slipping on the Center Court grass. Kimmel joked that the tournament's surface should be changed to hard, but Williams asserted that playing on the green grass of Wimbledon is "super special".
"Shouldn't they pave over those grass courts, isn't it time they put some cement down?" Jimmy Kimmel asked.
"Make it hard, right?" Serena Williams replied. "No, I love the grass I really do love it. It's something special walking out at Wimbledon and just wearing all white and being on that green grass. It's super special, but just wasn't for me this year."
Serena Williams was also forced to withdraw from the US Open as she needed more recovery time for her hamstring. During the show, the American admitted she was "really sad" to miss the New York Major, and revealed that she had planned the "most awesome" outfit for the fortnight.
"It was sad to miss that one, it was really sad," Serena Williams said. "I had really the most awesome outfit too, I put in an extra effort to try and make it, but it didn't work out. I was like 'I gotta save this, I have to absolutely wear it'."
"They never thought they'd have an opportunity to play with me" - Serena Williams on competing with the younger generation
Jimmy Kimmel proceeded to ask Serena Williams if other players in the locker room come up to her for autographs and selfies. Williams replied that it has been happening more often now, since the new generation of players wouldn't have thought they would get to compete at the same time as her.
"That's been happening a lot lately," the 23-time Major winner revealed. "It's kind of sweet though because it's just a whole different generation of kids that are coming up and that are playing. They, you know, never thought they would have an opportunity to continue to play with me like I'm still on tour, so it's a cool moment at the end of the day."