Serena Williams hasn't read an article about herself since 1999

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 4 October 2016

Serena Williams won her first U.S. Open in 1999, and since then she has gone on to tie Steffi Graf's record of 22 Grand Slam tournament wins. Williams is unquestionably nothing short of legendary, and as she once corrected a reporter, she is not just one of the greatest female athletes of all time, but one of the greatest athletes, period.

But the road to making history hasn't always been smooth: Williams has been criticized in terms both racist and sexist throughout the duration of her career. In an interview with The Fader, she explained how she copes:

How did you deal with people commenting about your body when you were younger, and how do you deal with it now?I've purposely tuned people out since I was 17. At the time, it was basically newspapers and maybe a website article. Maybe if the web was up back then. Since the day I won the U.S. Open, my very first Grand Slam, I never read articles about myself. If I saw my name mentioned, I'd look away. I looked at the pictures, but that's pretty much it. I didn't want to get too cocky, and at the same time I didn't want to have that negative energy. I don't know why I did it, but I did it. Ever since then I've been really low-key.People have been talking about my body for a really long time. Good things, great things, negative things. People are entitled to have their opinions, but what matters most is how I feel about me, because that's what's going to permeate the room I'm sitting in. It's going to make you feel that I have confidence in myself whether you like me or not, or you like the way I look or not, if I do. [The Fader]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.