This week, our editors recommend stories by Carla Ciccone, Lex Pryor, Bhavya Dore, Michelle Cyca, and Casey Lyons.
Serena Williams
Posted inEditor's Pick
Serena Williams Refused to Bend. She Bent Tennis Instead.
A stunner of an ode to Serena, who came into the game on the heels of her older sister, but leaves it having changed it irrevocably. An exacting portrait of an unprecedented competitor. Part of Serena’s genius—competitively, personally—is that she never can quite be anything but herself when she’s desperate. And she’s desperate every time […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Serena Williams Poses Unretouched
To accompany her unretouched cover photo on the August, 2019 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, tennis star Serena Williams writes a moving personal essay about the harsh, sexist way she was penalized at the 2018 U.S. Open for defending herself to a judge, the apology she sent to her opponent that day, Naomi Osaka, and why […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Highlight, Quotes
After the US Open, a History of Racial Caricature
In the wake of an Australian cartoon about the U.S. Open historian Brooke Newman traces a history of racial caricature.
Posted inBlog Post, Commentary, Nonfiction, Sports
Naomi Osaka Deserves to Have Her Moment
Much is being written about the contentious U.S. Open women’s final match, but this moment belongs to Naomi Osaka.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes, Sports, Unapologetic Women
Serena Williams on Returning to Tennis and Embracing ‘Power’
Williams plans to defend her Australian Open title just three months after giving birth.
Posted inBlog Post, Nonfiction, Quotes
Roger Federer is Brilliant, But Don’t Ever Forget About Serena Williams
It’s always polarizing when you’re trying to designate a single athlete as the “Greatest of All Time.”
Posted inQuotes
Serena Williams and Roger Federer: The Greatest of All Time
To celebrate the achievements of Serena Williams and Roger Federer, I’d like to share two of my favorite profiles of them.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A Black Woman’s Body on the Tennis Court: Claudia Rankine on Serena Williams
What does a victorious or defeated black woman’s body in a historically white space look like? Serena and her big sister Venus Williams brought to mind Zora Neale Hurston’s “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” This appropriated line, stenciled on canvas by Glenn Ligon, who used plastic letter […]
Posted inUncategorized
The Great Heights of Venus and Serena Williams
Venus and Serena Williams, living as adults, free of their parents, and still America’s biggest tennis superstars.