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She never played for money, or to be the best the sports has ever seen even. If she wasn’t winning, she wasn’t happy, no matter how much she earned from the game.
Serena Williams – Reveals The Real Reason She Excelled At Tennis So Greatly
The former tennis pro is taking us back to her incredible journey as a champion in the latest episode of Hot Ones with host Sean Evans.
One of the stories that have pervaded her career was the one where she tried to deposit $1 million in a drive-thru ATM, and you best believe Evans wanted to know if the myth surrounding the legend was true.
“I never played for money,” Williams said in reply. “I played ’cause I loved the sport … I don’t even know if I wanted to play to be the best, I wanted to win.”
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“So my tax guy, he would be like, ‘You didn’t get your money?’ and I’d be like, ‘Oh, I didn’t get that one in Zurich,’ ‘Oh, I forget that one in Moscow,’ … I was just playing to win, and if I didn’t win, I wasn’t thinking. I was just so angry, that I wanted to find a way to get better and win the next time,” she continued.
As for her first large paycheck, Williams recalled, “I never really spent a lot of money,” adding, “I went through the drive-thru … and the guy was like, ‘Uh, I think you need to come inside for this,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ “
The 42-year-old, who shares daughter Adira, 10 months, and Olympia, 6, with husband Alexis Ohanian, retired from the sport in September 2022.
At the time of her retirement from tennis, the 23-time Grand Slam champion wrote, “There comes a time in life when we have to decide to move in a different direction,” Williams wrote. “That time is always hard when you love something so much. My goodness do I enjoy tennis. But now, the countdown has begun. I have to focus on being a mom, my spiritual goals and finally discovering a different, but just exciting Serena. I’m gonna relish these next few weeks.”
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