Sad News: Serena Williams encounters significant setback as she chooses to end her career.

Serena Williams had a target on her back early on in her career, and she recently admitted that it was very tough to handle.

The American came into the sport as a super-talented player who was predicted to set the tennis world on fire. At age 17, she did just that by winning her maiden Grand Slam trophy, which unleashed a flood of interest in her, but also hatred.

Serena had a target on her back, which was very difficult to deal with. Being in a sport where you’re all alone on the court didn’t make things easier, as Williams thinks that it’s easier for teams than individual athletes.

Tennis legend Serena Williams offers support to rising basketball star Caitlin Clark

“I definitely had a red “X” on me. And it was hard. People assume that you’re not friendly, and that’s usually not the case. You’re just there to win, and people don’t really want to talk to winners in a singles sport.”

“It’s like they say, Birds of a feather flock together, and there’s only one winner, so who are you gonna flock with? If I were playing soccer, it’d be a completely different situation, because you have a team of players.”

The way Serena broke into the sport was like a fairytale. She was 17, playing at her home Slam in New York, winning a major. Not only did this shock everybody in the United States, but it also shook the world, which certainly contributed to the overall situation.

“I do feel like it shook the world. I mean, come on: A Black girl wins a Grand Slam at 17 years old, and she’s from Compton! Obviously they took notice. Tennis had been dominated by Caucasians, so it was like: Whoa. We’re having a change in our sport. We don’t like that. This isn’t normal. Let’s not let her win.”

Over the years, Williams has come to be respected, and even more than that. She’s widely considered the greatest female tennis player of all time, but even now, there are people who, undeservedly, doubt her.

Andrey Rublev turns to Halle’s peaceful setting and hotel sauna for mental reset

The world No. 6 first appeared at the ATP 500 eight years ago and has reached two of the past three finals.

ByMatt Fitzgerald

Published Jun 18, 2024

VIDEO NOT AVAILABLE IN YOUR COUNTRY

HALLE, Germany—If Wimbledon is the storm, Halle is the calm that comes before it. At least for Andrey Rublev.

Peace and quiet: it’s a state of being we all seek from time to time. After spending weeks in major cities like Madrid, Rome and Paris, Rublev finds refuge in the ambiance of the Terra Wortmann Open. Pastures with cows grazing and a mountain backdrop replace honking horns and packed streets filled by sounds of strangers.

“For me it’s a nice moment to a bit rest mentally before I go to London. A big city full of people, full of something happening always,” Rublev shares with TENNIS.com. “Here, it’s a nice place to stay calm for a week, focus only on tennis, to recover. It’s really quiet, really peaceful here.”

Rublev played doubles with Alexander Zverev Monday in a losing effort.

Beyond the tranquility, there’s another selling point of the ATP 500 for the 26-year-old.

“The sauna at the hotel is nice.”

Today, Rublev is a 16-time ATP champion with two Masters 1000 titles. He has remained inside the Top 10 since he first entered the elite group on October 12, 2020 and qualified at the last four editions of the Nitto ATP Finals. Even so, Rublev finds it difficult to accept how much time has elapsed since he first turned up to the long-running northwest Germany tour stop when he was an 18-year-old trying to find his way.

“It doesn’t feel like it at all. Looks like it’s been just last year,” he says. “But it’s tough to realize that it’s been eight years because in my head, eight years is a big number that means you have a lot of changes in life, or in general. For the moment, body wise, I feel like eight years ago.”

In 2023, Rublev put a disappointing French Open exit behind him when he reached his second final in three years at OWL Arena. His time at Roland Garros this year once again ended earlier than hoped when the world No. 6 lost to Matteo Arnaldi in the third round. Rublev took two days off before putting in the hard yards for the surface switch.

“We start to practice full because we decided that it’ll be the only short 10 days that we can work before it will be grass season,” he explains. “Because on grass, I will not have much time to do good practices. These days I can really focus to build a little bit of game, so I was playing every day and then I came here.”

Rublev holds a career 19-8 mark on grass. On Tuesday, the No. 4 seed opens his campaign against Marcos Giron.

sportroomnews

Football News And Update

Sad News: Serena Williams encounters significant setback as she chooses to end her career.

Andrey Rublev turns to Halle’s peaceful setting and hotel sauna for mental reset

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply