I remember when I passed Martina Hingis’s grand slam count. I started playing tennis with the goal of winning the U.S. When someone said I was just the little sister, that’s when I got really fired up. But if I hadn’t been in Venus’s shadow, I would never be who I am. I loved Monica Seles, and then I studied Monica Seles. It was as if I were playing her matches, too. That’s how I started to move so fast up the rankings, because I learned the lessons from Venus’s losses instead of the hard way, from my own. When she lost, I understood why, and I made sure I wouldn’t lose the same way.
I followed her around the world and watched her. I’d travel to tournaments with Venus as her hitting partner, and if there was an open slot, I’d play. It made me work harder, turning me into a savage fighter. I was so sad when I didn’t get all the early opportunities that Venus got, but that helped me. If you watched King Richard, then you know that when I was little, I was not very good at tennis. Photographed by Annie Leibovitz in Vogue, April 2003. Night matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows. Some of the happiest times in my life were spent waiting in that hallway in Melbourne, and walking out into Rod Laver Arena with my earphones in and trying to stay focused and drown out the noise but still feeling the energy of the crowd. I’m not sure every player sees it that way, but I love the performance aspect of it-to be able to entertain people week after week. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to look at this magazine when it comes out, knowing that this is it, the end of a story that started in Compton, California, with a little Black girl who just wanted to play tennis. I’m torn: I don’t want it to be over, but at the same time I’m ready for what’s next. I keep saying to myself, I wish it could be easy for me, but it’s not. I hate that I have to be at this crossroads. It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I know it’s not the usual thing to say, but I feel a great deal of pain. There is no happiness in this topic for me. Praise to these people, but I’m going to be honest.
Photographed by Annie Leibovitz with sister Venus Williams in Vogue, May 1998.
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