07/10/2026
This is very similar to the Filipinos playing pool.
From the Coach of Serena
“I cannot compare the environment I was raised in with the Williams family.
Early on in my coaching of Serena, Richard Williams tested me a few times. It started at Wimbledon, where he once entered the players’ gym screaming at me about Serena’s performance. As with Serena, I didn’t back down. And, like Serena, I eventually earned Richard’s respect.
Coming from Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles, Serena grew up feeling as if there was a target on her back. Her childhood was one of incessant danger. I think this explains the family’s superhuman levels of determination. Starting with Richard, the family lived as if it was on a mission of life or death. Tennis was the ticket out of the danger – it was the only ticket out. Serena carried this attitude into every match she’s played.
She saw it as a war. “Me or them, one of us is going home.”
Now understand that Serena had this attitude before she became the world’s No. 1. When she started, she played like she had nothing to lose and everything to prove. Being black in a white sport, especially playing in countries where racism was still very much alive and well, only contributed to this survivalist determination in her.
Life or death. It was Venus and Serena against everyone. If they lost, they were going back to Compton and there were more than a few people in the tennis world who would have been happy to see them go.
Then she became No. 1. Did it soften her mentality? Did it lessen her resolve? Please. Her rank only made it worse or better, depending on how you look at it.
It was important for me to understand this side of Serena, because it explains how she saw the world. This was her reality.
(Champion Mindset: Coach Yourself to Win at Life)
