The news cycle in the tennis world moves fast—who can keep up? That's where we come in. Each Thursday, Last Year Today will look back at a memorable story from exactly one year ago.

Serena Williams is a complicated person, and her day planner isn't simple either. Lately she has promoted her Serena documentary, set to premiere on Epix channel on Wednesday; jetted to the UK to prepare for Wimbledon; relayed to her social-media audiences how she forgot her grass-court shoes stateside (and, hilariously, saluted her eyebrows); and featured strikingly on the cover of WSJ Magazine.

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What's more, Beyoncé's "Sorry" video, prominently showcasing Serena, just became available as a stand-alone item, the first clip from Bey's Lemonade to be released that way.

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As filmmaker Ryan White found out when shooting and editing her eponymous documentary, "Serena is always surrounded by people—she is never alone. That can be a nightmare for a documentary filmmaker because all you want is these quiet moments. Some of the only quiet moments you get with her is when she is getting treatment with the physio."

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There's certainly nothing quiet about the photos in her *WSJ* spread. Brooklyn-based Maciek Kobielski photographed Serena for that cover story, and the shots are striking for how color-neutral they are, with monochromatic black or white attire adorning the subject. Kobielski's camera truly let Serena's personality and presence do the communicating.

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Soon she'll defend her Wimbledon singles title, with the likes of last year's finalist and recent French Open champ, Garbine Muguruza, who usurped Serena in Paris earlier this month, waiting in the wings to catch her.

The thing is, Serena Williams isn't a butterfly. She's the net. She's the one giving chase, and to history, she is the pursuer.

Heads up, Wimbledon. Incoming.

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonscott9.