Serena Williams competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics under Billie Jean King's guidance, and she remembers it as a career-defining experience.
Williams' incredible professional career, which spanned nearly 27 years since her debut in 1995, finally ended this season. She bid farewell to the WTA Tour at the US Open after being beaten in the third round.
The 41-year-old was recently nominated for the WTA Comeback Player of the Year after she returned from 12 months out with a severe injury during the grass-court season, managing to wow fans for a few more tournaments before retiring.
Williams' career contained numerous highlights. She won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam doubles crowns, Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles, and spent 319 weeks at No. 1 in the singles rankings.
Many might have assumed that the 2012 London Olympics would be Williams' favorite since she won gold in the singles and doubles. However, the tennis legend remembers the 2000 iteration in Sydney, Australia, most fondly.
Williams did not qualify for the singles because of the incredible depth in U.S. tennis at the time, but she secured one of her doubles Olympic golds with sister Venus Williams and got to be captained by the iconic Billie Jean King, whom Serena called the best captain she had.
"Best Olympics of my life to this day. I didn't qualify even though I won the (US) Open. That's how tough it was in America, like everyone was so good. It was like Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Venus, and (Jennifer) Capriati, it was impossible to break in, it was nuts."
"And I didn't qualify for the Olympics in singles which was crazy. So I just played doubles and I was so happy because I got to go everywhere and I got to watch all the matches, I went to different events. I've never been able to do that since. It was an amazing experience to just be. I was the only person happy to not qualify."
"Billie was the best captain hands down. I learned so much from Billie and it definitely helped. I remember being pivotal in my career, and I remember how funny I was even back then."
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