DOZ Leadership Lessons
SERENA
WILLIAMS
S
erena Williams needs no introduction. She
is a tennis superstar who has won many
titles. Serena was first introduced to playing
tennis at the age of three. Her father had decided
even before she was born that herself and her older
sister Venus would play tennis and he had a plan
on how he was going to train them. Serena loved
the sport and was determined to be the best tennis
player the world had seen. She kept pushing herself
and by the time she was a teenager she was already
a pro and amongst the 100 top players in the world.
In 2002, for the first time, she won three major
tournaments, Wimbledon, The French Opens and
The US Opens. This win changed the course of her
career and made her one of six women to complete
a career Grand Slam. She was named world No. 1 in
singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
She was only 21 years old. Serena’s career began
to rise higher from that point, but this is not to say
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Eturuvie Erebor
that it was without challenges. She had to contend
with those who did not like the colour of her skin.
Then in 2003, she underwent knee surgery which
affected her ability to play in top form. Gradually
she dropped from number one in the world to
number 139! At this stage in her career, Serena
took time off to recover and rediscover herself and
the game she loved. When Serena returned, she
returned in top form, and she returned with a fierce
determination to reclaim her place at the top. She
began by winning the Olympic gold and went on
to win her 23rd Grand Slam, and she achieved this
feat when she was eight weeks pregnant! Serena
Williams is currently one of the highest paid female
athletes in the world. Some famous Serena Wiliams
quotes include the following;
“I’m really exciting. I smile a lot, I win a lot, and I’m
really sexy.”
DOZ Magazine | December 2018