Reader Jon sent a one-minute video of Serena Williams as a little girl (already great at tennis) and at the U.S. Open. John said “this is good for a commercial”, but it’s made by Nike and looks just like a commercial. Regardless, it’s really good. Jon’s take:
Caution: might make you tear up. This is good for a commercial. Nike used home movies of a 9-year-old Serena Williams with her father, Richard Williams, encouraging her and telling her to imagine she is at the US Open, with jump cuts of modern footage of the US Open. Toward the end she celebrates on court when she spots her father cheering in the stands. Her father was such a gentle, caring coach. To date, I think she’s won the US Open six times.
Tennis at that level is nuts. She is the best.
I often think of the Williams sisters when i hear a rotund white guy going on about white supremacy .
They are amazing – such great athletes, but they seem to be kind and civic minded people as well.
Yep. Great role models not just as athletes, but in showing that you can ‘have it all’ in terms of showing a good work/life balance while being at the top of an incredibly demanding profession.
You know, I live in Arkansas and I seldom if ever hear rotund white men go on about white supremacy.
The funny thing is that on those occasions when I do encounter that sort of thing they’ll always make racist allowances for race being better athletes or race being innately more intelligent though deficient in the area of driving automobiles.
It is odd that, in the realm of motorsport, ‘white’ i.e. European/US (and South American) drivers predominate. The only non-white driver that springs to mind is Lewis Hamilton. And Shekhar Mehta a couple of decades ago. Doubtless there are others but numerically they’re a drop in the bucket.
Why this should be I just don’t know. A sort of historic reflection of the spread of cars, maybe?
cr
You, she’s won the US Open six times – but only if you exclude her three doubles victories there! Awesome.
That should be ‘Yup’, of course.
Sorry, Jez:
SW won US Open in 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, and 2014 — six is correct
VW won in 2000 and 2001
SW+VW won women’s doubles in 1999 and 2009.
You, I thought you were doing a Robert De Niro there for a second, you. You…
You all understand that she’s a JW nut?
And this detracts from her tennis accomplishments…how?
Of course she’s victorious. Her opponents all belong to “Satan’s world.”
Nah, maybe it is her sheer ability, after all.
“Her father was such a gentle, caring coach.”
For some reason, I have a memory of some years ago reading that he was (more than) a bit of a hard driver. Certainly I could be wrong about that. Certainly something is not true simply and solely because someone (including newspaper columnists) says it. Maybe what I heard regarded another athlete, perhaps Jennifer Capriati. (I think that a beautiful last name.) One occasionally hears of athletes’ overbearing (if not abusive) parents.
Richard Williams, Serena’s father, was controversial as a coach, mostly for his unorthodoxy, but he never approached the assholery of the really notorious tennis father/coaches. Capriati’s father, Stephano, was one of the worst. Maybe the worst. Another notable example on the women’s side was Jim Pierce, Mary Pierce’s father. Andre Agassi’s autobiography is a case study. His dad was a doozy.
Yeah, Richard Williams was unconventional to the point of being considered a real rara avis character by the staid tennis establishment. (I recall early in the sisters’ careers when he jumped up on the roof of a broadcast booth at a major to do a little Thelonius Monk-style soft-shoe).
But there’s never been any doubt he loves his daughters, and they, him. And there’s sure no arguing with the results. He took those gals straight outta the playgrounds of Compton to Centre Court Wimbeldon and all the other Majors.
Serena’s the best damn women’s player ever to pick up a racquet, hands down. And Venus ain’t far behind.
“Wimbledon”
Well, Richard Williams was the only father who could ever say, with absolute certainty, that he knew his daughter was going to win the Wimbledon final *before* the match started. (It was only a question of, which one?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trdKhMHvWcI
cr
(Errm, I don’t mean he ever said that, I just mean it would have been possible for him to say that)
cr
I love watching her play…such power and precision. Thanks for posting this.
I stayed up (here in NZ, it was the middle of the night) just to watch her play the Wimbledon final against Angelique Kerber. It was a replay of the 2016(?) final, except this time Kerber won. I was pleased for Kerber (it’s the first time she won Wimbledon) but I’m also happy to see that Serena’s back.
cr
Such a cute kid. Nice, feel-good commercial (& website post). 🙂
It shows that black people can overcome the racism in modern America if they work hard and have a father figure to guide them and bring them on.
Lovely — very cleverly edited.
Good commercial. I think many Nike commercials are pretty well done, just as little inspiration skits.
Serena Williams is awesome. It is always beautiful to see people who excel doing whatever it is they excel at and Serena is a contender for best ever, to date.
You were right. It did make me tear up!