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Introspective Serena Williams Embraces Role Model Chance in Indian Wells Return
Published: March 13, 2015
Or now after years of boycotting one of the more important tennis tournaments in the world, her compassion.
The incident lives here in the California desert of the baronial estates and well-watered fairways east of Palm Springs.
Fourteen years and nobody has forgotten. Including Serena and Venus Williams, the American women who dominated tennis for a decade.
It was 2001 and in the semifinal at Indian Wells, a tournament now underway and known as the BNP Paribas Open. Serena, still a teenager at 19, was to play Venus, 20. Moments before the start, Venus defaulted because of announced knee tendinitis.
Fans at the big stadium were outraged. They thought the women’s father, Richard, had, according to stories then circulating, made the decision because he didn’t want the Williams sisters facing each other.
During the final two days later, Serena was booed continually, even after winning the match.
Richard Williams called the reaction blatant racism. He and the sisters refused to enter an event called by many the most important in the sport other than the four Grand Slams.
Since then, all of tennis' stars have come to the desert: Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal. But not the Williamses. Never the Williamses.
Overtures were made to the sisters and father. They were refused. Until a few weeks ago.
Until Serena, with her 19 Grand Slam championships, including the most recent Australian Open in January, with her celebrity status from appearances on Letterman and other shows, with her alluring style in fashion, decided enough was enough.
She authored an essay in Time magazine on why she w...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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