This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ. Some of the greatest athletes across the world have been paying homage to tennis great Serena Williams, who is headed to "retirement" after losing in the U.S.
Open last week. The articles and opinion pieces on Williams' career have been incredibly profound, particularly important because sports media and the tennis community were frequently unfair to Williams during her storied career and during her pregnancy Earlier this week, with the WNBA playoffs in full swing, Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon (yes, former assistant coach of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs and women's basketball legend) even cited Williams multiple times during her remarks about beating the Seattle Storm, which meant the last career game for another legend, the Storms' Sue Bird. "You kind of feel like the girl that beat Serena...
Bittersweet." -<a href="https://twitter.com/BeckyHammon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BeckyHammon</a> on getting the win against Sue Bird. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBAPlayoffs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBAPlayoffs</a> presented by <a href="https://twitter.com/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Google</a> <a href="https://t.co/2PdJWrCDJR">pic.twitter.com/2PdJWrCDJR</a> Amidst all the barriers and struggles, the relationship that steadied her and kept her grounded was her relationship with her sister Venus, less than two years older.
The Williams family had five daughters and Serena was the youngest. The eldest sister, Yetunde Price, was killed in 2003 by stray gunfire.