Serena Williams’s Road to the Top

How Serena Williams rewrote the playbook for female athletes juggling motherhood and sport | Serena Williams

Serena Williams isn’t a woman with the “superhuman” ability of winning everything she sets her mind to, even with a lifetime of work as a top-tier athlete.

The 35-year-old tennis star has won six Grand Slam titles, including three grand slam titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but with this new book, she is not only telling her own story but that of countless other tennis and athletes who, for decades, have been struggling to maintain their careers.

“I am the first to say that no woman has done more to make female participation in tennis more attractive to women than Serena Williams. She has been an inspiration for so many and we all look up to her for her courage, determination and unwavering belief in herself and her sport because of the incredible drive that she has,” said tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe, who helped edit the new book “Serena’s Road to the Top.”

It is a powerful mission statement in the business world, and there is plenty of evidence to back Williams up.

After her first big breakthrough in 1998, when she was 15, she battled chronic health problems for a decade, but was in contention for a million-dollar contract with Nike when it was finally agreed to when she was 34.

Then, in 2007, she earned a world number one ranking before the French Open by knocking off Serena Williams in the finals of the Australian Open, and she had a string of great results. She came in second place at the Wimbledon where she defended her title despite suffering a knee injury, and even went on to win the French Open as well as the US Open.

After a string of wins earlier in the year, she dropped down to number two in the world, only to win the French Open and the French Open.

Most recently, she won the French Open for a record 12th time, beating Serena Williams in the final of the French Open

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