Seeing Serena

A riveting, revealing portrait of tennis champion and global icon Serena Williams that combines biography, cultural criticism, and sports writing to offer "a deep, satisfying meditation" ( The New York Times ) on the most consequential athlete of her time .

There has never been an athlete like Serena Williams. She has dominated women's tennis for two decades, changed the way the game is played, and--by inspiring Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, and others--changed, too, the racial makeup of the pro game. But Williams's influence has not been confined to the tennis court. As a powerful Black woman who struggled to achieve and sustain success, she has emerged as a cultural icon, figuring in conversations about body image, working mothers, and more.

Seeing Serena chronicles Williams's return to tennis after giving birth to her daughter--from her controversial 2018 US Open final against Naomi Osaka through a 2020 season that unfolded against a backdrop of a pandemic and protests over the killing of Black men and women by the police. Gerald Marzorati, who writes about tennis for The New Yorker , travels to Wimbledon and to Compton, California, where Serena and her sister Venus learned to play. He talks with former women's tennis greats, sports and cultural commentators--and Serena herself. He observes Williams from courtside, on the red carpet, in fashion magazines, on social media. He sees her and writes about her prismatically--reflecting on her many, many facets.

The result is an "enlightening...keen analysis" ( The Washington Post ) and energetic narrative that illuminates Serena's singular status as the greatest women's tennis player of all time and a Black woman with a global presence like no other.