"She had to break through the legacy of racism in her sport" - Award-winning director on Serena Williams' path to success and superstardom
WTA
Serena Williams' achievements should be regarded as bigger than that of her peers due to the enormous "legacy of racism" the American had to overcome along the way, believes award-winning director Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Prince-Bythewood, who has earned a nomination for Best Director at the 2023 British Academy Film Awards for her hit film 'The Woman King,' recently spoke to The Rolling Stones about how Serena Williams inspired her, both as a Black woman and as a filmmaker.
The American opined that Williams has never had a "level playing field," seeing as she also had to overcome the racism exhibited by the tennis world as a whole at the time.
"No one can deny what Serena Williams has been through. You can’t say that her path was easy, or even that it was equal to her peers. She had to break through the legacy of racism in her sport," she said. "She never had a level playing field, so you can’t deny it when you see her excel."
While others could just focus on training and their tennis, Prince-Bythewood pointed out that the 23-time Grand Slam champion also had to deal with the "weight of the world," making her achievements all that more staggering.
"What’s so pervasive about racism is that Serena Williams never got to just be a tennis player. She had to train, and work out, and be a great tennis player all while dealing with microaggressions and the weight of the world looking at her. I wish I could say it’s inspiring; that part is heartbreaking," she said. "But it’s something to be applauded and championed."
Furthermore, the director stated that she is a big fan of the former World No. 1's mental toughness, adding that she tried to walk on her film sets with the same confidence that Williams exhibited on the tennis courts.
"As a Black woman, I’m especially in awe of Serena’s mental toughness. The constant fight takes a mental toll. And what’s happened with Serena is what strong, powerful Black women go through in every single industry," she said. "There’s so much we have to overcome, and we’re still never allowed to acknowledge when we’re great. So I walk on set the way she used to walk on the court — in full belief in my abilities."
Over the years, Serena Williams and her sister Venus have been subjected to racist remarks multiple times, both from fans in the crowd and sometimes from fellow players. Most famously, the Williams sisters refused to play at the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells for more than a decade after being subjected to untoward treatment by the spectators.
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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