Bashing Serena Williams is un-American

How we treat our greatest athletes says as much about us as it does about them

Serena Williams holding the Venus Rosewater dish in 2016. Photo Courtesy of People Magazine

Her record is astonishing. Serena Jameka Williams (Ohanian) is a 23 time grand slam champion in American tennis. With her sister Venus Williams, she has won 14 Grand slam doubles titles and 3 Olympic gold medals. Serena is tied with German Steffi Graf for the most consecutive weeks at №1 — 186 weeks — a record that is not likely to be broken over the next 100 years.

She has held all four major titles at the same time TWICE in her career which inspired the moniker, “The Serena Slam.”

Serena Williams is everything a world-class athlete should be. She is an indefatigable competitor, she has nerves of steel, she is smart, she is crafty, and for most of her career she was nearly unstoppable on the tennis court.

Why then are some Americans irate at the return of Serena to center court at Wimbledon?

“She doesn’t deserve a wildcard…”

“She’s washed up…”

“She was always a poor sport..”

“She barely acknowledged her young opponent” (Maya Joint)…

Serena speaking up for herself has always elicited vitriol. Image courtesy of ABC

The level of petulance is embarrassing. Some Americans actually complain about Serena Williams trying to be a normal human being as she goes about the business of being a global sports icon who decided to take another run at Wimbledon.

And Serena didn’t just show up to the match. After being off the WTA circuit for four years and raising two children, she wowed the crowd, playing two hours, serving seven aces at over 120 mph, winning the second set, and giving herself an excellent chance to win the match.

Now here comes the vitriol. Americans who probably barely blinked an eye as McEnroe and Conners acted like buffoons on court in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Americans who would probably cheer showing all 32 teeth as they encourage Tom Brady to play until he’s 80, are saying things (in a recent New York Times write -up) like, She’s a “narcissistic old athlete” and “She disrespected the tournament.”

Where in Germany do we see fans blasting the airwaves about their star tennis player Sasha Zverev disrespecting the chair umpire he attacked? Where do we see German fans openly griping about the same Zverev going to trial for abusing not one but two ex-girlfriends?

German Sasha Zverev. Image courtesy of the Associated Press

And how about those Polish fans when Iga Swiatek was cited for doping in 2024? Did anyone spew this Ona jest lekceważąca i już przebrzmiała vitriol at their compatriot?

How about the Romanian fans? When Simona Halep faced a lengthy ban from tennis in 2022 for doping, did the tennis world hear a round of dissension from the Romanian fans that she is a “cheat?” a “poor sport?” Or even a “Wow, that sure sounds suspicious” that Halep’s blood contained fifty times more Roxadustat than the sport legally allows?

What strikes me as un-American are the false accusations hurled at Serena for doping, although not once in her 30-year career has there ever been a smidgen of impropriety from either her or Venus Williams.

I’m here to tell you that we should all be cheering their impeccable character and their standard of athletic excellence that has taken their careers into a 4th decade.

This is the stuff that dreams are made on.

It’s a childish embarrassment to hate Serena for being great. She has kept America in the tennis record books since 1995. During her 6th year on the tour in 2001 while still a teenager, she played a heartbreaking match where Americans stood up and booed her on American soil at Indian Wells because they assumed she pulled a fast one in an effort to avoid playing her sister in the semi-final of that tournament.

Serena Williams won Indian Wells in 2001 despite the American crowd turning on her. Image courtesy of Sportskeeda

For the record, Serena and Venus have played each other 31 times professionally. People did not boo because of disappointment in their American champion, they booed because they refuse to ever recognize Serena as a champion at all.

How much more trifling can you be?

If you root against Serena Williams, you are anti-American. Maybe cheering against your own champion makes sense if you don’t love your own country, but is that how you plan to make America great again?

Nah, the greatness of America rides on us ridding the country of the kind of racist truculence that would rather defame Serena Williams’ character and perseverance than acknowledge how great she is.

That is an American travesty.

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