01x08 - This Is You

[bunniefuu]

[Serena Williams] Serena,

the game is mental.

Good thoughts are powerful.

Negative thoughts are weak.

[Richard Williams] This is you

at the U.S. Open.

[Serena speaking]

Your vision will become your life.

[laughter]

Hold on to the thought of what you want.

Make it absolutely clear in your mind.

[Serena speaking]

You attract what you think about most.

That's how you create a champion.

[dramatic music playing]

[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,

now champion,

the legendary Serena Williams.

[crowd cheers]

[Alexis Ohanian]

We both knew the stakes.

We both knew the history she was making.

She was already making history

breaking Steffi's record

and setting the record of Grand Slams,

but do it while pregnant, whew.

Right.

But it wasn't a conversation, frankly,

until she won.

There was a little gathering afterwards,

and then we went upstairs.

Like, it was the most

non-debaucherous celebration

you can imagine.

And I think it was

that grounding, though,

that was setting us up

for the next chapter.

[reporter] A representative of hers

has confirmed she is pregnant.

Serena is expecting a baby this fall.

Being pregnant.

Winning a Grand Slam title.

Now, I've never done either,

but I hear both can be challenging.

Well, apparently Serena Williams

did them both

at the same time earlier this year.

That's right.

She was about eight weeks pregnant

when she won the Australian Open.

[Serena] I remember growing up,

and I always

wanted to be a tennis player,

but I've always wanted to be a mom,

and I always knew I was gonna be a mom,

and that's something

that I've always wanted.

Since I was a little kid,

I always imagined myself as a father.

It felt as natural as anything else.

I was just coming to terms

thinking of myself as a husband.

And then all of a sudden,

turning around and being, like,

"Oh, great. Okay. Now I'm gonna

think about myself as a dad."

It's a Friday night.

I'm in Publix going shopping

because my fiancé has cravings.

I was told there would be cravings.

I was not told they would be these.

Zucchini, asparagus, and

What's this one called again?

When I was pregnant,

I felt like I was losing everything

that I thought Serena was.

[reporter] Tennis legend

and entrepreneur Serena Williams

says that adding "mom" to her résumé

won't slow her down.

[Serena] Ending my career in 2017

was never going to happen.

I wasn't done. It wasn't me.

[reporter] Serena's rep says

she'll definitely

not return to tennis in 2017,

but look for her to be back in 2018.

[Serena] Your body starts to change

in that last four months,

and you put your body through so much.

I felt you kick yesterday.

It was amazing.

[Serena] It's all fresh and it's all new

and it's all really scary.

You don't really know what to expect.

Even though

you can read a zillion books,

it can't prepare you

for what is about to happen.

[mildly tense music playing]

They wanted me to have the baby

August 20-something or 30th,

and I wanted a September baby

because I'm born in September,

and I wanted my daughter

to be born in September.

So I held it. I was, like, no, no, no.

I'm, like, one of the only people

that are, like, no.

I'll keep her longer.

[Alexis] What did you say

when someone said that our little girl

was gonna win Wimbledon

in, like, 15-20 years?

[Serena] Not if I'm still on tour.

[laughter]

[Serena] August 31st, they said

if you don't go into labor naturally,

we're gonna induce you to go into labor.

So they induced me on August 31.

Every time I had a contraction,

Olympia's heart rate

would go down really far.

There's this almost palpable anxiety

I guess with any

first time parent for sure.

And then you layer on

Serena's pre-existing health conditions,

and then it's, like,

hey, the show's about to begin.

And now, all right,

actually she's not doing great.

Eventually they said

we need to have a C-section,

because we gotta get the baby out.

Serena's, like, "Cool. All right.

Whatever you need. No problem."

[indistinct chatter]

[Alexis] But you got your scrubs on.

You're waiting, they bring you in.

They sit you next to her

on the other side of the sheet.

No way I'm looking over

that other side of the sheet.

[doctor] Take some deep breaths, okay?

[Alexis] Take deep breaths, baby.

You did such a great job.

The doctor's working down there,

moving things around.

Okay, baby pops out. Okay.

[doctor] Here she comes!

Look, she's screaming already.

[Alexis] Oh, there's the baby.

Look at that happy baby.

[laughing] Look at that happy baby.

She put her little victory pose up

when we first saw her. Had her hands up.

That's my baby girl. Let's go, Olympia.

She's got Dad's complexion,

but she's your baby.

[woman] Here, Mama.

[Serena] Aw, you're so cute.

[nurse] I'll help. I'll readjust.

What we're gonna do,

I'm gonna have you help me.

[Serena] I got to hold her,

and then, you know,

I was getting to know her,

so it was a different feeling for me.

And obviously I loved her,

but it was more of, like, a protection.

[Alexis] How you feeling, Mama?

I'm feeling good.

You did it. We did it.

You feel your ego just melt.

For the first time ever,

you're, like, I am not

the center of the universe.

Like, this little human

is the most important person

I have ever met,

and I will do anything for this person.

We came in as two.

We're going out as three.

Everything was fine

until the second day of the C-section.

I remember

Alexis' stepmother and his dad

were in one of the rooms

and they were talking to me,

and I just remember thinking

I can't breathe.

And so I took some steps back

and I was, like,

I just gotta get out of this room

because they were just talking,

and I couldn't hear

anything they were saying.

I was just thinking,

man, I'm really struggling to breathe,

so I really need to, like,

figure this out.

Serena's coughing,

she's not feeling great.

And this was around the time

when she realizes,

like, something's just not right.

[Serena] So I somehow

went back to my room

and I tell the nurse,

"Listen, I need to get a CAT scan

with dye in it

"so you guys can see everything

that's going on in my lungs,

"and then I need to get on

a heparin drip."

And so I'm literally

prescribing my order.

The nurses aren't quite listening,

the doctors aren't quite listening,

and I'm trying to advocate for her.

In that moment, I'm, like,

"Something does not feel right, people.

"Like, I hear what you're saying,

but I know what my wife is saying."

I'm still trying to be

respectful of the people here.

I know these are stressful jobs.

There's a part of me that's, like,

"Don't be that [bleep],"

but there's another

louder part of me that's, like,

"These people are not listening

to my damn wife,"

and at some point,

you have to be the [bleep] to advocate.

[Serena] So my doctor came in,

and I think she thought

I was delusional.

But it didn't matter, you know.

She totally listened to me

and she ended up doing what I asked for.

Because I've had to advocate

for myself so much in sport,

it was really important

that I didn't accept no as an answer.

I think it's important

for people to understand that

and know that, statistically,

African-American women

are often left to die.

You know, in many ways,

Serena's experience

is unfortunately

the embodiment of the challenge.

Because it's devastating to understand

that we already go through so much,

and to have to have your child

be without a mom

because of not listening

or because, you know, a lot of schools

are teaching their doctors

that Black women are dramatic

and they can take more pain.

And that's absurd.

Things seemed like they had stabilized,

and I went out to go get food

with my parents.

So we leave the room,

and the next thing, I swear,

a minute later I get a call from Jill.

"Hey, they gotta pull Serena in

for surgery."

Bah-bah-bah, something,

stitches, the clotting's not happening.

I was most concerned with her health.

That's the first thing

that came to my mind.

And just that everything would be okay.

You know, you have a newborn life,

and she can't even enjoy that

because she was so sick.

This was the longest, longest,

longest week, you know.

Multiple surgeries.

This should have been

the happiest time for her,

and she doesn't remember any of it

because she was medicated

or going through surgeries

or what have you.

[dramatic music playing]

[Serena] So we're leaving the hospital

after six-seven nights?

-Six nights?

-[Alexis] Yeah.

[Serena] It's been a long time.

But we had a lot of complications,

but look who we got.

We got a baby girl.

I was so obsessed with my daughter,

I never left her ever for 24 hours.

Tried to do my best

to create an environment at the house

where Serena could recover, could rest.

I was very stubborn,

so we didn't have a baby nurse

or a nanny, so it was just me.

[vocalizing]

Where's your belly?

Changing that first diaper,

I was, like, "Wow, I can do this.

"Okay. I got this."

It gave me a confidence to be a dad

that I have to this day,

and nothing's gonna faze me now

because we got through that.

[Serena] When I get home, you know,

I'm basically a zombie.

It was all a blur.

Like, I couldn't really

function very well.

And walking out to the mailbox was

that was my exercise.

And I would come back in,

and I would be so exhausted after that

that I would sleep

for the rest of the day.

That first walk,

she barely made it down the driveway.

And she's, like, I gotta turn around.

And she's bracing on me.

And I'm, like, "Come on.

We can go to the end of the street."

She's, like, "No, I really can't."

I'm, like, "[bleep] Okay."

I just had really small goals,

but I knew that I wanted to keep moving

and try to keep myself

as healthy as I could in those moments.

There was a bush.

I remember there was a bush

on the street that was her goal bush.

And every day go out a little further.

Some days she'd sneak out without me

and I'd get a little mad at her

and be, "Why you gonna go without me?

"What if you fall?

What if something happens?

"Like, you gotta let me know."

When she finally made it to that bush,

it was a big deal.

[Serena] At the same time,

I'm also dealing with

the big question of tennis.

Am I gonna play tennis again?

When I had Olympia,

I definitely always had tennis

on my mind.

And so she said,

"Look, these are the tournaments

I wanna play for.

"This is my strategy. This is my plan.

"Do you think we can make this work?"

[dramatic music playing]

[reporter] The last time we saw

Serena Williams on the court,

she won her 23rd Grand Slam title

at last year's Australian Open.

Here's what she told

the Vogue magazine folks.

"It's not a secret

that I have my sights on 25,"

and that means she wants to have

25 Grand Slam victories,

which would break the all-time record.

[Serena] Olympia,

you sure you wanna work out still?

[woman] Olympia, look. Look, Mama.

Whoo!

[Alexis] So I'm, like,

"Look, my job here

"is to support you

and what you think is best.

"I'm gonna tell you

I think you're coming back too early

"and you don't need to rush

any of this."

And of course, she's gonna say,

"I know my body better than anyone

and I think it's gonna be great."

And I'm just gonna say,

"All right. I've given you my feedback.

"You have dismissed it. That's fine.

"Let's figure out a plan

to make this work."

[announcer] Here is Serena Williams!

[crowd cheers]

[Alexis] She wouldn't talk about 24.

It was always about just coming back

to the sport that she loved

and that she knew

she was objectively great at,

and that's a hard drug to quit.

It's like a magnet, right?

When you love something,

you always just kind of

are drawn back to it,

especially when it's tennis season,

which is all the time.

[reporter] Serena's daughter was born

earlier this year on September 1st.

Then in November,

she married Alexis Ohanian

in a fairytale wedding in New Orleans.

[Jill] The baby was born September 1st.

Got a big offer for her to play

an exhibition in Abu Dhabi,

which she said yes to.

And I was, like, that's crazy.

You're four months,

you're breastfeeding. Like, what?

We went.

She was pumping five minutes

before she had to go on the court.

[Serena] And I would recommend

not necessarily breastfeeding

and playing a solo sport.

[laughs]

I feel like when I came back,

winning became inspiration

as opposed to Grand Slams.

And I became now

a completely different inspiration,

not just for tennis,

but just for so many women.

[Jill] Little by little,

she was playing herself back into shape.

There was a part of me that felt like

she needed to get back

as fast as she did

because she needed to prove to herself

that she could do it.

[reporter] We're in

for something special, I have a feeling.

It's championship day

for the ladies at Wimbledon,

and coming up,

Serena Williams, Angie Kerber.

And it's not just a championship match.

It's a comeback. It's a moment.

I think at that point, it's like,

yeah, [bleep] it. Why not?

I just had a kid. Great.

Let's just blow everyone's mind

all over again.

[Mary Joe Fernández]

We make a lot of the fact

that she is a working mom right now,

but I think what makes this remarkable

is just the way that she has come back.

And as you said,

the multi-surgeries, the blood clots,

life-threatening situations

that she was in.

And she has an eight-month-old child,

and she is mentally,

physically, and emotionally

at the top of her game right now.

[umpire] Ready?

Play.

[Serena] Any time

I get to the finals of Wimbledon,

I feel like, okay,

I'm ready to keep going

and ready to keep winning

and, you know, just there

to try to do the best that I could.

[commentator] One-two punch

means Serena is on the board,

but still down.

[Serena] I was playing well,

but I didn't have endurance.

I had nothing in me. I was exhausted.

And you are going to be exhausted,

and I just, you know,

didn't understand that. [chuckles]

[commentator] No,

nothing really working right now.

I think she is obsessed with winning,

but more desire not to lose.

[commentator] Oh, it hit the dust,

not the chalk.

[commentator 2] It was out.

[commentator] And Serena has missed

again from on top of the net.

Angelique Kerber denies

the mother of all champions a milestone.

If anything, I just was more stressed

and maybe too

too stressed and too anxious, I think,

and a little too, um

too much energy

towards winning another Grand Slam.

[reporter] Serena continues her chase

to win that 24th major, as I stated,

which would match Margaret Court

on the all-time list.

The 36-year-old is also trying to win

her seventh U.S. Open title.

A year ago this time,

you were days away from becoming a mom.

What does it mean for you

to be back at the U.S. Open?

It's just it's a miracle really.

It's just been the best year of my life

and so many great memories.

It's mind-boggling.

I mean, I can't relate.

Because I honestly could not imagine

coming back after having my children,

especially in four months.

[commentator] We are so excited

to have you with us under the big top

on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Huge roar for Serena Williams

when she first came on court.

I felt, like, okay, I'm close, I'm here.

I felt like I was playing

really, really, really well.

I was playing very aggressive.

[umpire] Game, set, match, Williams.

Two sets to love, 6-3, 6-0.

[commentator] All coming to see

the great Serena Williams

as she looks to tie the all-time mark

with a 24th Grand Slam title,

taking on Naomi Osaka,

who is just 20 years old

and hoping to become

the first Japanese player

to win a Grand Slam title.

What I knew about Osaka

was that Serena was her idol,

So she's playing against her idol

in, you know,

the biggest match in her career.

Very talented player.

You could see

how she modeled her game after Serena.

Very big serve.

[commentator] Very similar games

going head to head

in this U.S. Open final.

Once again, Serena found herself

in a really tough situation.

[linesman] Out!

[umpire] Game, Osaka.

[commentator] Wow, wow, wow.

[Serena] I didn't show up.

I guess I just couldn't show up.

I couldn't play.

I couldn't recover the way she could.

[Jill] Naomi outplayed her,

but, you know,

she allowed Naomi to outplay her.

Because she wasn't aggressive

and she wasn't moving well.

It felt like she was stuck to the court.

[umpire] 40-15.

[commentator] I've never seen anybody

keep Serena on her back feet

like Naomi has.

[umpire] Code violation, coaching.

Warning, Mrs. Williams.

[Jill] What was said was that Patrick

was giving her hand signals.

[Serena] One thing

I've never done is cheat.

If he gives me a thumbs up,

he's telling me to come on.

You don't have any code

and I know you don't know that

and I understand why

you may have thought that was coaching.

But I'm telling you it's not.

I don't cheat to win. I'd rather lose.

-I'm just letting you know.

-[crowd cheers]

She felt that she was accused

of things that she didn't do,

publicly in front of millions of people.

The umpire gave the warning,

so that gets marked as, you know,

it's a first offense.

[Mary Joe] So many coaches

coach during matches

and the umpire never says one thing.

[Alexis] She was not receiving

any message.

She wasn't looking for a message.

She wasn't receiving one.

Now, was Patrick gesturing his hands?

Looked like it.

[commentator] So in your view, Mary Joe,

is that out of line, the warning?

[Mary Joe] I think so.

There wasn't much there.

I remember being sideline,

and I remember thinking,

why didn't the umpire

give her a "soft warning,"

which happens in tennis,

where they kind of prepare you.

[umpire] Game, Osaka.

Code violation, racket abuse.

Point penalty, Mrs. Williams.

[commentator] Code violation.

You add that to the earlier

code violation she received,

that's a point penalty.

After she got the warning,

she gets the point penalty.

Then the emotions took over.

[dramatic music playing]

[commentator] Extremely rare

in a Grand Slam final.

So Osaka, after breaking back,

begins this game up 15-love.

[Mary Joe] And then she fought it,

and, you know, probably didn't handle it

as well as she could have.

You need to

You owe me an apology.

You owe me an apology.

I have never cheated in my life.

I have a daughter,

and I stand what's right for her,

and I've never cheated.

You owe me an apology.

I don't think anyone likes

being called a liar

or having their truth

called into question.

I was really wanting to defend who I was

and what I stood for.

[commentator]

Serena's played 18 U.S. Opens

and she may feel like

it happens every single year.

[Serena] Honestly, the U.S. Open

as a whole is very triggering for me.

[linesman] Out!

[commentator] That looked

like it was in.

-Oh, my goodness me.

-[commentator 2] This is horrible.

[commentator] That again is a vital,

vital point, and that is awful.

[reporter] The erroneous overrule

that some feel

cost Serena her quarter final match

against Jennifer Capriati.

[linesman] Fault.

-[commentator] Oh.

-[commentator 2] Wow.

-[commentator] No clear evidence.

-[commentator 3] There's no foot fault.

You definitely do not see

a foot fault there.

[commentator 2] Oh, and there's

there's a referee coming out.

Nobody really needs this.

I mean, this is such a critical stage,

and it's not good for either player.

Come on!

[commentator] When did she yell?

[commentator 2] She yelled

before the ball was mis-hit.

[commentator] That's not

They'll have to replay that point,

I'm almost certain.

She's giving her the point?

I'm not sure what she actually said.

[commentator 2] She just screamed out,

"Come on!"

[Jill] It was so much

post-traumatic stress

with all the other experiences,

and here was yet again another one.

[Serena] You stole a point from me.

You're a thief, too.

Code violation, verbal abuse.

Game penalty, Mrs. Williams.

[commentator] This is just extraordinary

because Naomi doesn't know

what's going on, nor does Serena,

and this is going to explode

explode in a moment

because Serena's just been given

a game penalty.

This is out excuse me.

I need the referee.

I don't agree with that.

[commentator]

Serena's asking for the referee.

Osaka was ready to serve at 4-3.

It was hard to hear over the crowd,

but Carlos Ramos said game penalty.

We said the third code violation

would lead to that.

[Mary Joe] Correct.

[Serena] I've never seen

anyone take a game off of someone

in the finals of anything major

for not even using profanity.

I've never seen that.

That's not right. This is not fair.

This has happened to me too many times.

This is not fair.

[Serena] Serena plays with emotion.

Serena is loud.

If I don't have that emotion,

I don't play well,

and I am not able to be Serena.

You know how many other men

you know how many other men

do things that are

I don't they do much worse than that.

[Jill] The tension was palpable.

It just felt like it was boiling.

[commentator]

Many, many people would say

restraint is called for

by the chair umpire there.

[Mary Joe] She called him a thief.

I'm not quite sure

that merits a warning.

It was another tough moment for Serena

on a big stage,

and you could just see how angry she was

about everything that went down.

[Serena] In that moment,

you just go numb.

[umpire] Game, set, and match,

Osaka, 6-2, 6-4.

[commentator] Naomi Osaka,

a quantum leap.

U.S. Open champion, instant star,

won the most controversial

U.S. Open final ever.

You cannot imagine how bad

she was feeling after that final.

Not only she lost, but also the way,

the scenario was horrible for her.

And I was responsible for what happened.

I made a mistake.

[announcer] Good evening, everyone,

and we welcome you

to the trophy celebration

of the United States Open.

[crowd boos]

[Serena] I feel

it sucked for her really.

That was her win

and she deserved that win

because she worked for it

and she held her nerve

and she played well.

And I didn't feel like it was fair

for that to have to be

her first Grand Slam win

under that experience.

Serena, not the result

that you wanted tonight.

How do you put into perspective

what this match contained?

Well, I don't wanna be rude,

but I don't wanna interrupt

I don't wanna do questions.

I just wanna tell you guys

she played well,

and this is her first Grand Slam.

[crowd cheers]

Congratulations, Naomi.

No more booing.

I just wanna say thank you

for watching the match.

Thank you.

[crowd cheers]

[Serena] I truly hated that for her.

I reached out to her several times

and her mother as well

because it was really heartbreaking

for her.

[Jill] She historically does not

and has not read things

and I don't know really

that she ever knew the level of

you know,

the level of yuck that there was.

It was very important for me

at that time,

but then I realized that, you know,

a lot of people throughout centuries

and throughout history

are often accused of things

that they never do.

And how do you respond to that?

And that's what I've learned

how to do better since that moment.

[reporter] The list of sporting events

postponed or canceled around the world

due to the threat of the coronavirus

is adding the BNP Paribas Open.

That's tennis,

and that's not happening this week

as originally scheduled.

A case of the virus was discovered

in the Coachella Valley

near Indian Wells, California,

where the top men and women

in the game were to begin

[reporter 2] Breaking news

here into First Take.

Wimbledon was canceled today

because of the coronavirus pandemic,

the first time since World w*r II

that the oldest

Grand Slam tennis tournament

will not be played.

-What test is this?

-It's coconut.

Oh, it's the COVID test? Coconut?

One, two, three, four, five,

six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

[Serena] Quite frankly,

it was nice to have a break.

I had time to spend with my kid.

We got a dog, big dog, Dora.

And I started working

on my papa pancakes.

We just spent a lot of time together

as a family.

And Serena would keep training,

but it was just a surreal time.

-[Serena laughs]

-Let's go.

[Alexis] I'm gonna get you.

We quarantined together.

We always every day, every week

I would be at Venus' house

and we would have a barbecue

every Sunday.

And we had our really small bubble,

and it was kind of nice for a change

to just not have to go.

-Thank you, Papa.

-[Alexis] You're very welcome, Olympia.

[Serena] I mean,

obviously we were still training,

but it was nice to just be on a break

and everybody be on a break.

Because usually if you're on a break,

then you're upset because, you know,

someone's passing you in the rankings.

And so it was this weird

kind of sigh of relief,

but yet this anxiousness

of waiting for the next

for the latest news

of what would happen next.

-[laughs]

-[Serena] Oh, my goodness.

I can't believe she did that.

Tell me, what did you do?

[Serena] And 2021 was like,

I gotta get serious.

I was just determined

to just go out and win

and do great things.

And we were working out really hard

and I was doing sprints,

and I tore my hamstring.

So then I went from being able to be

really excited

about the rest of the year

to trying to put it back together.

By the time I got to Wimbledon,

I started to feel good.

Like, I was able to, like,

get a lot more range of motion

in my hamstring and et cetera,

and I was really feeling it.

And I was, like, this is great.

[commentator] But it's still a long time

since she's played on grass,

and it's always a little dicey,

a little challenging here

on the first day.

I got to the grass

and I played really late that night.

The grass started to settle

and I slipped.

Oh!

[commentator] No, no, no, no.

[Serena] And I almost

tore it off the bone, my hamstring.

[reporter] For this to happen in

the first round was horrible to watch.

[reporter 2] It's heartbreaking.

And she's 39.

We don't know the full magnitude

yet of this injury,

with the next Grand Slam, the U.S. Open,

about two months away.

She was looking so good

going into that tournament,

and that [bleep] grass.

[Serena] I knew that that was gonna be

probably the end of my year,

even though I tried to train

for the U.S. Open.

But I decided ultimately

I wasn't gonna win the U.S. Open,

and I wasn't gonna play

if I wasn't gonna win.

[Alexis] That might have been

the first time

that she really talked about retirement.

And and look,

there's also this undeniable reality.

We had a four-year-old at that point

who is just adorable.

Bounce it. Good job.

Bounce it. Good job.

[Jill] I think that she had

an enormous amount of guilt

leaving Olympia to train and to play

because she felt like

she wasn't being a good mom.

In order to be the best,

you have to be supremely self-absorbed.

Have to be able to do that.

And now you have something that you love

more than anything in the world,

more than yourself.

I think it became harder to be selfish.

I think Serena was fortunate.

Obviously she had a lot of support

with her family and her husband.

But you still have to somehow

find it in you

to get that determination

and that desire

to work hard again.

[Serena] Well, how do you know?

How do you know when you're done?

Like, is there a sign?

Is there a way that you feel?

[Alexis] She's looking at her body

and the toll that it's taking playing,

and there's nothing

you can do about that.

You can always train a little better

But, you know, time is time.

Father Time doesn't wait for anybody.

And I think there was

also some part of her,

I know there's some part of her

that was, like,

baby number two, let's go.

It comes down to a decision

that she has to make,

and my job is to be as supportive

as I can be for whatever it is.

2022, she doesn't practice.

I mean, for someone

who is waking up every morning

and practices since she's probably

four years old every single day,

she doesn't practice.

I just remember telling him

I just don't know.

I mean, I wanna train, yeah,

but I just don't know.

I just felt like

I'd given so much to tennis,

and tennis honestly

has given so much to me.

But it just feels like

you're just beaten down

and you're exhausted, mentally,

more than anything.

I tell her, "Listen, if you wanna play,

I'm with you 100%.

"But if you don't play,

I wanna coach someone else.

"If Monday you're not at practice,

I consider that you retire."

And she looks at me in the eyes

and she says,

"On Monday,

I'm not gonna be at practice."

I said, "Okay, fine.

"So I'm free."

[Serena] It's, like, man, you know,

you wanna do something so bad,

but every time you try to do it,

you take a step back.

So it was really

a very difficult decision to make.

But I also think at that moment

you need a coach

that tells you,

like, you should continue.

This is how you should end your career.

And in fact for me,

that was Jill that did that to me.

And, yeah, she wasn't my coach,

but she was someone

that was a really good friend

in that moment.

She's, like,

"I'm not playing, I'm done."

She hadn't played

in probably eight, nine months.

What I said to her was,

"Your last match can't be that match."

You've done too much, you are too much.

You deserve to be celebrated.

[Serena] That's what I needed to hear.

I need to hear, like,

"Let's not end your career

"walking off the court

at Wimbledon crying.

"Let's get up

and let's end it on a high note."

And that's ultimately what she told me.

I wanted to end it different,

and so be it,

it would have to be in New York.

[reporter] Serena Williams,

the greatest player

in the history of women's tennis,

announced in Vogue,

in fabulous fashion, I might add,

that she will soon call it a career.

She posted this

on Instagram this morning, saying,

"There comes a time in life

"when we have to decide

to move in a different direction.

"That time is always hard

when you love something so much.

"My goodness, do I enjoy tennis,

but now the countdown has begun."

I'm writing this article,

and, you know, at some point,

I'm, like, deleting and typing

and crying and remembering

and reminiscing.

And for me, I just felt like,

I'm not retiring.

That sounds so final

and so, like, a death sentence.

I'm moving on.

I'm doing something different.

There's so many things I wanted to do

and want to be,

and tennis, unfortunately,

is stopping me from doing a lot of that,

namely being a mom again.

[dramatic music playing]

Before we arrive at the Open,

I'm just realistic.

I'm thinking I wanna have

a good end to my career,

and I want to be able

to say goodbye in my way.

I mean, it was where

I won my first Grand Slam,

but there's also, like,

this other, like, nasty, ugly side

to what I've personally,

and I can confirm what I have only

no one else experienced any of that.

[reporter] It's day one

of the U.S. Open,

and Serena Williams

is set to take the court soon.

This tournament is expected

to be the last and final one

of Williams' career.

[Serena] This was the final hurrah.

It felt like it was just gonna be

a sad moment no matter how it ended.

I wasn't gonna be happy.

[Mary Joe] We are all so grateful

that she has given us this chance

to see her again.

I mean, regardless of how she plays,

regardless if she wins or she loses,

it doesn't matter.

We're gonna be able to appreciate her

and celebrate her greatness

that she's given us for 25 years.

[Alexis] Serena post Olympia,

those crowds,

especially in the U.S. Open,

really started to pull for her.

[crowd cheers]

Because I think they finally saw

yet another dimension to this superhero

that was fallible, that was human.

I'm not sad, I'm happy.

[Alexis] That was a mom.

I felt proud to play as a mom,

because my whole career,

I've been playing just as this person,

a single human being.

And now I'm playing as a mom,

and it just definitely

made a difference to me.

I was so happy

that I was able to go out there

and play for people

that supported me for so many years.

[umpire] Game, Serena Williams.

[Serena] It became

not necessarily about winning.

It became more or less about, like

I don't know.

In a weird way of, like, thank you.

[Jill] What I always struggled with

was Serena not getting the respect,

love, and admiration

for everything

that she's given of herself

to the world, to culture, to sport.

And so when I sat there

and listened to people

showering her with love

[crowd cheers]

And I was just hoping

that she could feel that.

There was something about that

that really solidified for me

what she represents

and how it surpassed the sport.

[crowd cheers]

[commentator] The legend lives on.

In the history of our game,

there is only one,

and probably

there will never be another one.

I could feel everything, and I loved it.

And usually those moments

I don't really love.

For someone that's had

so many bad experiences in New York,

this ended up being the best experience

of my life ever in tennis.

[crowd cheers]

[Alexis] If you could bottle up

that energy in that arena and sell it,

you would be a multi-billionaire.

I've never been a part of something

that felt like that.

And she didn't even win the damn thing.

[umpire] Game, set, match, Tomljanovic.

[Alexis] And yet it had

this quality to it

that was so obviously special

and almost otherworldly.

I mean, it gives me chills

just thinking about it.

[Serena] It was the best tournament

I've ever played.

I still felt like I won.

I was able to really give my fans

an opportunity to say goodbye,

and I was able to say goodbye

to my fans as well,

which you don't really think about

until you're in that moment.

But I felt like it was

the best thing that I could have done.

[crowd cheers]

Um oh, my God. Thank you so much.

You guys were amazing today.

I tried, but Ajla just played

a little bit better.

Thank you, Daddy.

I know you're watching.

[voice breaking] Thanks, Mom.

Oh, my God. Um

[crowd cheers]

Oh, my God.

These are happy tears, I guess.

I don't know.

And I wouldn't be

I wouldn't be Serena

if there wasn't Venus,

so thank you, Venus.

[crowd cheers]

She's the only reason

that Serena Williams ever existed,

so, um, I don't know.

I just everyone from Jill to Isha

to my sister Lyn

to my husband, to Olympia, to Jemira,

everyone in that box,

it's been a fun ride, and, um

[crowd cheers]

[interviewer] Well, on behalf

of the whole tennis community,

we thank you

for letting us be part of this journey

and watching greatness

for the last 25 years.

It's been remarkable.

It's a long time.

[crowd cheers]

[Serena] It was the ultimate sendoff,

and I didn't expect that, you know.

And to not almost have that

would have been really sad.

And so I'm so grateful to, like,

everyone that supported me

all those years.

And even on the court,

like, I was crying or whatever,

but I remember

when Andre Agassi retired,

there wasn't a dry eye

in the locker room, you know.

And I was, like,

"Oh, this is so sad, you know."

Like I never thought

I would have that moment.

I always thought it would be

too hard for me to say goodbye,

but sometimes doing the hard thing

is the best thing,

and that's what it was.

It was definitely the best thing.

[interviewer] So Mr. Williams,

I'll ask you a few questions.

So, you know, I've sat with Serena now,

what, ten times, Serena?

We have studied your daughter's career.

She has 73 singles titles.

She spent 319 weeks

ranked number one in the world.

Four gold medals,

33 singles Grand Slam appearances

and 23 victories.

When I say all of that to you,

what does it make you feel?

Well, it's amazing.

But today when I look at Serena,

it's just phenomenal.

Matter of fact,

when I think about what Serena has done,

I couldn't have never thought that

she could do as much as she could do.

She's done so very well for herself

and her family, and on, and on.

You know what Grandpa taught me?

So first thing you do is turn.

This hand here,

don't bring it down too soon.

And I'm so proud of Serena

being a great, unbelievable champion.

[interviewer] Thank you for doing this.

It's a real privilege,

and I sure appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

-[Serena] Can you take a picture?

-[interviewer] Of course.

[chuckles]

[Serena] I began

in this two-bedroom house

in Compton, California,

dreaming of getting to a Grand Slam.

This is you at the U.S. Open.

And then finally getting one chance

and, you know, taking that chance.

And, essentially, never looking back.

[commentator] An expression

of omnipotence by Serena Williams.

[Serena] This was all

just the ultimate blessing

that I was able to play

and then I was able to win

and then I was able to be the best.

Like, that just doesn't happen

in anyone's life,

and somehow it happened in mine.

I think the best way to describe it

is I was, like,

on the greatest ride of my life.

At some point, you have to get off,

even though you don't want to.

And I had to get off

because I wanted to have more kids.

-You're gonna be a big sister.

-[squeals] Yes!

[both laugh]

-[Olympia] Good.

-Say what?

-I love that!

-[both laugh]

[interviewer] Would you want

your girls to play tennis?

Actually, I would. I actually

would want them to play tennis,

because I don't think

there's a better sport for women.

So we'll see. I don't know. We'll see.

Olympia's really good at it,

but she don't really love it.

[laughs]

But we'll see what happens.

[announcer] She's a phenomenon,

an icon, a legend.

Ladies and gentlemen, Serena Williams.

[crowd cheers]

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