07 ISSUE VIII
OCTOBER 2025
OCTOBER 2025
The Fear of Black Success
In this piece that first appeared in September 2015, the author dissects the fake controversies around Serena Williams, one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
By Andrew Bedsole
When the Williams sisters arrived on the professional tennis scene in the mid-90s, the world was a very different place. Since then, the Williams sisters’ domination of the professional circuit has been the one constant throughout the last 20 years. From Serena’s 67 women’s singles titles and her 21 women’s doubles titles, it is hard to imagine a Women’s Tennis Association-sanctioned tournament without Serena Williams not only winning the competition, but also winning in style. To watch Serena play in her prime should be a privilege for any self-respecting tennis fan, and yet for many, it isn’t.
Spirit of Sports - Legend Of Tennis - Serena Williams - Art Prints by Christopher Noel.
After her sixth win at Wimbledon on July 11, 2015, social media was very active with comments about the historic event. Unfortunately, many of these comments were negative, if not downright racist. People have a way of bringing down black athletes, especially in tennis. Arthur Ashe learned this firsthand in 1968 when he won the US Open. The echoes of racial taunts from the past are very similar to what Serena has had to deal with now. The 2001 Indian Wells tournament featured allegations of racial slurs against Serena and a lack of intervention by the tournament officials. When asked about the racial taunts, the organizers refused to apologize.
It could be said that, simply, yes, they are and always will be racist people who will judge an athlete based solely on the color of her skin, but sadly, the problem is much deeper than that. The bigotry Serena faced extends to mainstream media both in and outside of the United States. In a NEW YORK TIMES article titled “Tennis’s Top Women Balance Body Image With Ambition,” tennis writer Ben Rothenberg writes about how Serena’s rivals “could try to emulate her physique, but most of them choose not to”. According to THE NEW YORK TIMES, it’s apparently not that Serena has worked hard to get to where she is, or that she is more talented than other players, it’s that she is simply bigger and stronger than they are. More than that, other players could easily do what she does on the court, but they don’t want to end up looking like Serena.
It may be argued that there are simply some people in the media who try to tear Serena down, but the problem is even deeper than that. In a 2012 exhibition match, fellow player Caroline Wozniack stuffed her bra and skirt in an effort to emulate and intimidate Serena. This act was found funny not only by the audience but also by the commentators and fellow players, many of whom have said on record that Serena has a distinct physical advantage over her contemporaries.
Sadly, this treatment of Serena Williams is not unexpected. Spectators, the media, and even fellow professionals have a certain way of dealing with successful black athletes, especially female black athletes. In hyper sexualized media, women, particularly famous women, are judged mainly on their looks rather than their accomplishments. Even though Serena has no equal on the court, this does not translate into more financial success. The eleven million dollar endorsement deals per year for Serena are only half of what her so-called rival Maria Sharapova makes (so-called because the last time Maria beat Serena was in 2004, even though they played each other 17 times since then). What is more frustrating is that Serena Williams seems to be the perfect representative for any self-respecting company. She is well spoken, speaks multiple languages, and has never been in any sort of legal or personal trouble. Any company trying to build a brand or continue to dominate the market would be lucky to have her. More importantly, Serena Williams’ championship record far overshadows Sharapova’s win record and that of any other active female tennis player. But for a black female athlete, victory isn’t enough. Even when she wins, it doesn’t count because Serena supposedly has a physical advantage over other players. An advantage that also makes her less feminine and marketable. As a result, Serena’s accomplishments are diminished because she is a black woman. No matter how successful she is or will continue to be, it will never be good enough for some. Serena will always be an outsider in the world of tennis, an interloper in a world where the vast majority of athletes are white. Until recently, women were paid only a fraction of what men made. (You can thank her sister Venus for changing that.)
Serena Williams is not a beloved icon in the United States or Europe the way other professional athletes are. She is too black, too dominant, too unlike the atypical women who make the tabloid headlines. Her record on the court speaks for itself, but a winning record isn’t resulting in the respect Serena deserves. Comparatively, Serena is one of the most successful athletes of this and previous generations. Maybe years from now, she will be recognized as such in the history books, but right now, her record doesn’t seem enough.
Andrew Bedsole is a former New School student.