POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Tennis legend Serena Williams announced her retirement Tuesday from competing in the sport.
Her record holds an impressive 23 Grand Slam Singles titles and 14 Grand Slam Doubles. Over the years, Williams has proven her legacy to be unmatched, however, her impact goes beyond just the court.
Jewel Peterson is the former coach of professional tennis player Coco Gauff. She currently owns Peterson Tennis Management, where she shapes and trains the future stars of the sport. In an interview with 11Alive, Peterson said Williams’ retirement is bittersweet for her as a former tennis player and now coach.
“It’s so interesting now going into this transition and I'm super, super excited, of course, for Serena and for her transition and a little sad, but also excited for the future that's ahead of her,” Peterson said.
Since she began coaching, Williams has always been the standard that Peterson points to for her students – even Coco Gauff. But this goes beyond technique, for Peterson, Williams has demonstrated a sense of mental and physical determination both on and off the court – something she said is hard to consistently maintain with the amount of pressure that comes from being a professional athlete.
“She really has been that true demonstration of being able to soar in the midst of adversity,” Peterson said.
She believes Williams redefined what a champion looked like during her career. She explained that during her years as a player, she remembers being one of the only Black players on her team at tournaments.
Today, not much has changed – when she attends tournaments with her students, people are surprised to learn that she is the coach, but Williams opened a door of representation that has been felt by many in the tennis community.
“It is different because in this industry it is a very male-dominated industry, it is a very white male-dominated industry,” she said. “We haven't seen a woman, a Black female, dominate a sport like this in I don't know how long. It's the first time we've ever seen something like this.”
Now, Peterson hopes to see a player like Williams take the spotlight soon, but she knows it will be hard shoes to fill.
“What people don't understand, and I don't think people are aware of, is that Serena really is one of the very few athletes that we've been able to see prove herself time and time and time and time again,” Peterson said.
“Now, in this era, you see a different winner every single tournament, a different player winning a grand slam or a player winning a tournament. And everybody's wondering is this the next one,” she added.
While she hopes it will be Gauff – who is currently competing in the Canadian Open – Peterson is excited to see new talent take the court.
“I know that there are more coming up, more coming up in Coco… but I will definitely miss that. I’ll absolutely miss that,” she said.
