"Steffi Graf and Monica Seles didn't really talk to a lot of the other players" - When Serena Williams spoke about the players she looked up to
Serena Williams said that she tried to emulate the likes of Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Pete Sampras when she entered the tour.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion spoke to journalist Gayle King at a TED Talk in 2017, where she was asked about the players she looked up to. The former World No. 1 said that she always wanted to be the best and looked up to Graf, Seles and Sampras when she entered the WTA tour.
"For me, when I grew up, I always wanted to be the best, and I said, 'If you want to be the best, you've got to emulate the best'. So, when I started to go on tour, when I was really young, I would see Steffi Graf, I would see Monica Seles and I would even see Pete Sampras, and I would see what they did," Serena Williams said.
The 41-year-old stated that Graf and Seles did not speak a lot to the other players and were very focused. She mentioned that she tried to do what they did in her quest to become a better player.
"I noticed that Steffi and Monica didn't really talk to a lot of the other players, they kind of were on their own and they were just so focused, and I would see Pete Sampras, the technique that he did. I was like, 'I want to do that', so I did that and I felt like, 'To be the best, if you want to be the best, you have to hang around people, look at people that are the best, because you're not gonna the best if you're looking at someone that's not at the top level," she explained.
"One of the reasons why I fight so hard and I work so hard is because I was really, really, really small" - Serena Williams
When asked about her work ethic, Serena Williams stated that she was a hard worker. She also said that the reason behind her work ethic and her fighting spirit was the fact that she was very small during her childhood.
"I'm a very hard worker. A lot of people say, 'Oh she's talented, she's athletic', no actually I wasn't. I was really small for my age, I grew up when I got older, and I had to work really hard. I think one of the reasons why I fight so hard and I work so hard, is because I was really, really, really small," Williams said.