Serena Williams shares her inspiring mantra of 'trying harder' as she highlights the importance of resilience as a mother and tennis player
Serena Williams shared a powerful message with fans encouraging them to stay motivated and not give up regardless of what the results might be. The 23-time Grand Slam champion used her on and off-court experiences as examples to highlight the importance of being resilient.
On February 1, Williams took to Instagram to share a video where she can be seen looking into the mirror while talking to the camera and applying makeup from her cosmetic line Wyn Beauty.
She accompanied the video with a text inviting fans to share their story of resilience.
"Resilance - I would love to hear your stories on how you were able to stay resilient in a situation."
The former World No. 1, while doing her eye makeup, talked about what the word 'resilience' meant to her.
"The other day I was asked about resilience and what that meant for me and how was I resilient during my career and I found that to be a very interesting question because resilience is something that you kind of just have to stand up and do."
Serena Williams shared how 'resilience' translated both on and off the court for her.
"So thats one thing that I do know is when I was on the tennis court and maybe I didn't win that match, or maybe I found that someone was playing better than me [pauses] On that day of course [laughs] but that didn't mean that I couldnt go back and try harder."
"Resilience also shows in how you show up everyday. It doesn't have to be a professional athlete, it could be a mom, like it shows a lot of resilience and like you're strong and real to just show up everyday for yourself or for your family or whatever that is."
The message in the aforementioned video echoed Williams' previous post on January 26, where she shared a powerful message on the importance of investing in one's self, citing her compatriot Madison Keys's 2025 Australian Open triumph as an example.
Serena Williams reflects on how her resilience played a key role in rivalry with Justine Henin
In the aforementioned Instagram video, Serena Williams also reflected on her rivalry with Justine Henin. The duo were at their peak in the early 2000s, clashing with each other 14 times on-court between 2000-2010. Both players have since hung up their racquets, with the American leading their head-to-head 8-6.
Williams recalled a match between the duo, presumably the 2002 Italian Open finals, and the physical challenges she faced at the time. She later underwent knee surgery in 2003.
"I remember when I was playing Justine (Henin) in a final and I had to find the motivation to be resilient because I hurt my knee... I was in so much physical pain, of course nobody knew and I just felt like giving up."
"I was like gosh, 'this is not going well, I'm exhausted and I have the best excuse in the world. My knees are killing me, I actually have to get surgery after this but I'm just going to figure this out and be done with it'."
Sharing the story of how a naysayer in the stands gave an extra push to her, Williams added:
"And this guy in the stands he said, 'Hey there Serena, I knew you weren't that good'. And I just looked at him and I'm like ' I'm about to show you what's good. I'm about to show you resilience.' I don't know how many games I lost after that but wasn't that many and I was like that's what I needed."
Serena Williams won the 2002 Italian Open against Henin, 7-6(6), 6-4.