One year ago, at Wimbledon, England, Serena Williams was forced to stop her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich and withdraw from the competition because she tore her right hamstring.
“You never want any match to end like that,” Williams said. “It’s really unfortunate, but it was definitely something that’s always been at the top of my mind.” She also had to withdraw from three consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since her recovery took nearly a year, creating speculation about whether she intended to continue playing tennis at all.
Ever since her last visit to the All-England Club, she has also been busy with many endeavors. Her daughter, Olympia, is now four, and she is also making business endeavors for her company, Serena Ventures, which invests in companies whose founders are from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
“A part of me feels like that is a little bit more of my life now than tournaments,” she said of her interests outside tennis. “When you do have a venture company, you do have to go all in. It definitely takes literally all my extra time. And it’s fun. I’m currently out of the office for the next few weeks, so if you email me, you’ll get a nice ‘out of office’ reply. Everyone knows that I’ll be back in a few weeks. But it’s good.”
Williams has also split with Patrick Mouratoglou, her coach for the past 10 years. Mouratoglou is now coaching Simona Halep, who defeated Williams in straight sets in the 2019 Wimbledon Final. She is now coached by Eric Hechtman, a former University of Miami tennis player who is the longtime director of tennis at the Royal Palm Tennis Club in Miami.
Although this is Hechtman’s first tournament with Williams, the goal is still crystal clear. “She’s a champion, right? And she’s playing Wimbledon for a reason,” Hechtman said. “Just like I think anybody that walks into the tournament, their goal is to win the event. And that’s our goal.”
“You never want any match to end like that,” Williams said. “It’s really unfortunate, but it was definitely something that’s always been at the top of my mind.” She also had to withdraw from three consecutive Grand Slam tournaments since her recovery took nearly a year, creating speculation about whether she intended to continue playing tennis at all.
Ever since her last visit to the All-England Club, she has also been busy with many endeavors. Her daughter, Olympia, is now four, and she is also making business endeavors for her company, Serena Ventures, which invests in companies whose founders are from historically underrepresented backgrounds.
“A part of me feels like that is a little bit more of my life now than tournaments,” she said of her interests outside tennis. “When you do have a venture company, you do have to go all in. It definitely takes literally all my extra time. And it’s fun. I’m currently out of the office for the next few weeks, so if you email me, you’ll get a nice ‘out of office’ reply. Everyone knows that I’ll be back in a few weeks. But it’s good.”
Williams has also split with Patrick Mouratoglou, her coach for the past 10 years. Mouratoglou is now coaching Simona Halep, who defeated Williams in straight sets in the 2019 Wimbledon Final. She is now coached by Eric Hechtman, a former University of Miami tennis player who is the longtime director of tennis at the Royal Palm Tennis Club in Miami.
Although this is Hechtman’s first tournament with Williams, the goal is still crystal clear. “She’s a champion, right? And she’s playing Wimbledon for a reason,” Hechtman said. “Just like I think anybody that walks into the tournament, their goal is to win the event. And that’s our goal.”
