If I have a daughter and she plays tennis, and I have a son who plays tennis, I wouldn’t say that my son deserves more money because he’s a man. I would say they deserve the same amount of money.
Think of all the girls who could become top athletes but quit sports because they’re afraid of having too many defined muscles and being made fun of or called unattractive.
I don’t go there thinking I’m going to lose. I never go into a tournament thinking that. I’ll do the best that I can. I need to be at my peak and my best is holding up the trophy. Anything less I wouldn’t be really excited about. So that’s all I can focus on.
I’m an athlete and I’m black, and a lot of black athletes go broke. I do not want to become a statistic, so maybe I overcompensate. But I’m paranoid. Oprah told me a long time ago, ‘You sign every check. Never let anyone sign any checks.’
Growing up I wasn’t the richest, but I had a rich family in spirit. Standing here with 19 championships is something I never thought would happen. I went on a court just with a ball and a racket and with a hope.
You can be whatever size you are, and you can be beautiful both inside and out. We’re always told what’s beautiful and what’s not, and that’s not right.
I just could never have imagined that I would be mentioned with Chris Evert or with Martina Navratilova, because I was just a kid with a dream and a racquet. Living in Compton, you know, this never happened before.
I never left my roots. You can identify me as someone that didn’t become high and mighty. Humility is a defining [trait] all of us can forever learn, and I try to be as humble as anyone can be.
Everyone in this room knows that Venus is probably one of the greatest people on the tour. She’s really great. She’s super professional. Complete opposite of me.
![Serena Williams Quote - I never left my roots. You can identify me as someone that didn’t become high and mighty. Humility is a defining [trait] all of us can forever learn, and I try to be as humble as anyone can be.](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/i-never-left-my-roots-you-can-identify-me-as-someo-683x1024.jpg)
