Serena Williams discloses former Grand Slam champion influenced her iconic grunt - "She had this really cool grunt"
WTA
Known for her iconic grunt during matches, WTA legend Serena Williams revealed her inspiration for the noise and it's benefits during an appearance on the YouTube show, Hot Ones.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion retired in 2022, but has remained active in the world of fashion and entertainment. Williams sat down with host Sean Evans on a recent episode of Hot Ones, a YouTube show where famous personalities eat hot sauce-slathered wings while responding to progressively challenging questions.
Seles was inspiration for Williams iconic grunt
Host Sean Evans touched on the topic of tennis players having a characteristic 'grunt', and asked if enforced silence would impact Williams' gameplay. The former World No.1 revealed her grunting was inspired by nine-time Grand Slam titlist Monica Seles. Furthermore, Williams explained the strategic aspect of the sound serving as a respiration aid during high-stake points.
"So I grunt because growing up, I liked this tennis player named Monica Seles and she grunts, she had this really cool grunt," replied Williams. "And I loved that, I was like that's so cool and so I would literally grunt because of her and then it just became natural."
"I guess it's a form of breathing. I grunt playing golf now. It's like a part of my life. Other people, I don't know why, they say it's like reliving and exhaling air and it's a different way to exhale air."
"I guess it's a form of breathing. I grunt playing golf now. It's like a part of my life. Other people, I don't know why, they say it's like reliving and exhaling air and it's a different way to exhale air."
Williams retired at the 2022 US Open, signaling the end of an illustrious career that spanned over two decades. Some of her career achievements include an impressive haul of 73 WTA titles, including 23 Grand Slam trophies and four Olympic gold medals.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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