The Fed Cup 2020 draw against Latvia wasn’t the best experience for Serena Williams. In fact, she was handed her maiden defeat at the event in over 20 years. However, team USA would go on to beat Latvia 3-2.
Interestingly, Serena was another generation altogether in the team. The USA comprised of young members like Coco Gauff and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. Obviously, you would expect the juniors to be a bit intimidated by the legend.
However, according to Kenin, the humble Serena Williams constantly took advice from her. This greatly affected a young Sofia Kenin who did not expect a legend like Serena to learn from someone so nascent. Sofia Kenin opened up about the experience on the Tennis Magazine Podcast. Let’s find out.
What did Sofia Kenin say about Serena Williams?
Kenin revealed that playing with Serena was an amazingly good experience for her. Both Kenin and Serena lost their singles encounters. Expectedly, the young American was devastated after being upset so quickly after her Australian Open triumph.
However, the guiding hand of Serena Williams reminded her that wins and losses are a part of the sport –
“I was super excited to be on the team with her. When Kathy told me I was gonna be with Serena, you know I followed her career. I know she’s been at Fed Cup, so I was super excited. Of course, I was a bit nervous, I didn’t know how it was gonna be, but in the end, she turned out to be very nice. We started talking after I lost my match against Ostapenko. She said – “Just listen, you just won the Australian Open so it doesn’t matter”.
Taking advice from Sofia Kenin
Kenin also revealed how Serena Williams did not have an air of arrogance around her. In fact, she took advice from her juniors –
“She was very supportive and it was funny because I was giving her advice on how to play faster because I just beat her. And then my dad was giving her advice (laughs) .”
“And she was taking it. I mean she could have easily just acted like she doesn’t care. She was taking it and she was nice about it after the match.”
This goes on to speak volumes about Serena Williams. Often, the media narratives make us believe something about a player. With Serena, her attitude has always been clouded with the popularisation of her on-court tussles. This led many to believe that she was arrogant about her achievements.
However, it is important to know that the media profits by homogenizing the image of a player. Most of the times, the truth is very different. That seems to be the case with Serena Williams.
A legend always learns till the very end of their career. Serena Williams is definitely a legend of the game. Maybe, the greatest.
