Her male counterparts such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer may seem omnipresent these days, but Serena Williams continues to redefine ubiquity as a tennis star.
She guest-edits the new issue of *WIRED*, wherein she offers withering takes on the likes of Internet trolls, some of whom came for her during the Wimbledon final this year. None other than Harry Potter's literary mother, J.K. Rowling, rose to Serena's defense with a sleek takedown. Serena says that prompted her to realize that she can speak out also, and that she can empower others to do the same, from Black Lives Matter activists to children who populate her two schools started a few years ago in Africa.
Elsewhere in her WIRED opinion piece, the WTA Tour's runaway No. 1, notably absent at this week's WTA Finals in Singapore, addresses subjects ranging from the NFL's so-called Rooney rule to the need for boy-girl equality in educational opportunities, and from the absence of leaders of color in the tech world to tennis' own lily-white history.
Through it all, she stays true to herself and continues to build her personal narrative. Her WIRED platform serves as just the latest reminder of what is to come. Whenever Serena does excuse herself from playing tennis professionally, she will have a stable of options available to create and grow even more. And that's the beautiful thing about life for all of us.
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