Attention, thieves: Don't ever try to steal a phone from Serena Williams

When a would-be thief attempted to steal her phone, Serena Williams proved she's a force to be reckoned with off the tennis court, too.

On her Facebook page, Williams used her close call to encourage women to "step up to any challenge." Williams wrote that while eating a dinner of "delicious" Chinese food on Tuesday, a man stood next to her, and "something (I have now dubbed it my SUPERHERO sense) told me to watch him." Her phone was on the chair next to her, and even though she said she was watching him "from the corner of my eye," when she least expected it "this common petty thief grabbed my phone and swiftly left." That's when she jumped up, ran through the restaurant, and chased him. "He began to run but I was too fast," she said, adding that all the sprints she does during training "came in handy."

Once she caught up to him, Williams asked the man — "in the most menacing yet calm no-nonsense voice I could muster," she said — if he "accidentally" took the wrong phone. He thought about it, she said, then told her: "Gosh, you know what, I did! It was so confusing in there." She took the phone and returned to the restaurant, where she was greeted with a standing ovation. "I was proud," Williams wrote. "I just showed every man in there I can stand up to [bullies] and other men. It was a win for the ladies!" After sharing her story, Williams implored her Facebook followers to "always listen to your superhero voice" and "always keep your things close," adding, "Just because you are a lady, don't be afraid to step up to any challenges and not be a victim but a hero." Maybe her post will also remind potential thieves that in order to be successful in criminal endeavours, it's important to take a few seconds to size up the person whose phone you're about to swipe.

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