Serena Williams has often spoken about what it was to be a person of color in a predominantly 'white' sport, and it was very hard at times.
Unfortunately, biases exist everywhere, regardless of what they are about, and regardless of how unwilling most people are to admit it, everybody grows up with biases. Getting rid of it takes some work and experience, and luckily, most people do so as they grow up and experience life.
Being a person of color in tennis wasn't easy for Williams because her achievements were downplayed for a long time. She's lived through it, and most of her fans know the Indian Wells incident, which caused her to refrain from playing at the event for a long time.
In a recent interview with Harper's Bazaar, Serena spoke about her experience as a black woman in tennis, admitting that she was judged more harshly compared to others while also recognizing that she was no saint on the tennis court.
"Oh gosh, especially me in tennis—and I get into that in a different story, but [that project is coming in a few years. But I was judged way more harshly than people that wave done the same [thing]."
By now, nobody even dares to question Williams' achievements, and most agree that she's the greatest female player we've ever seen on a tennis court. Williams hasn't always been as beloved as she is today, but she worked hard for it.
"Listen, I’m not a saint on the court. I’m the first to admit I’m the most psycho person on the court. I’m crazy, and I probably deserved a lot of that. But in the sport, I think that’s a bit much, when you think about it."
She played her game, and she won. Eventually, she won against the biases, and that's also one of the reasons why she's the greatest of all time, among many other things.
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