It’s no secret Serena Williams had a legendary tennis career, but now the 42-year-old is sharing some personal anecdotes from her most meaningful Grand Slam appearances in her docuseries “In The Arena: Serena Williams.”
In the eight-part docuseries the tennis legend reflects on pivotal moments in her career and while chatting with Access Hollywood at the series’ premiere at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival she revealed why she thanked her first boyfriend in the doc.
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View Gallery“I mean, yeah I did thank him, but it was a joke,” she said. “I’m one of those athletes that really just needs an excuse to win, and I just needed that excuse to win and so I talk about this in the docuseries…I talk about how I used that breakup as like a reason to just be great. It propelled me forward and then I was just like, thank you.”
The docuseries is also an opportunity for Serena’s two daughters, Alexis Olympia and Adira River, to learn more about her career.
“That was the biggest thing when I was creating this documentary was the fact that my daughters would get to see it and have an opportunity to see this whole new side of me that maybe I won’t be able to explain thoroughly through stories,” she said. “To put all of this story on camera was a super huge motivation for me.”
“In the Arena: Serena Williams” premieres July 10 on ESPN+.