Serena Williams news: Tennis legend hopes to help entrepreneurs who may be overlooked

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Eshlin Vedan
March 22, 2022

Tennis star Serena Williams has said that the purpose of her new venture fund is to help back entrepreneurs that would have otherwize been overlooked.

With her best days as a tennis player now behind her, Williams has been planning well for life beyond tennis for more than a decade, having been involved in various entrepreneurial and philantrophic initiatives.

Williams said that she hopes that the fund can back the next generation of entrepreneurs who will be different from the last.

“We need people like me and people like Alison and like our team at Serena Ventures to be writing the big checks, to change that narrative so we don’t have to be overlooked,” Williams told Bloomberg.

Since it’s inception, Serena ventures has invested in a variety of markets, including cryptocurrencies.

Serena Williams news: Tennis legend wants the 40-year-old to challenge for her 24th Grand Slam

Big question marks remain over how long Williams will play professional tennis. She has struggled with injuries in recent years and the 40-year-old has also expressed her interest in expanding her family with husband Alexis Ohanian. Williams is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all-time and has won 23 Grand Slam titles which is the second most in history.

“I think every tennis player thinks about the R-word as soon as they hit five years because tennis is so intense, it’s literally 11 months out of the year,

“But I don’t know. I’m living for the day and I always tell people ‘I’m not planning for tomorrow, only in business. And when it comes to tennis, I’m planning just for today,” she said.

Williams also commented on young tennis star Naomi Osaka being heckled at Indian Wells recently. Osaka appeared to be visibly upset after someone in the crowd yelled “you suck” towards her. Osaka also withdrew from Wimbledon last year in order to focus on improving her mental health.

“That was my whole life, was trying to prove people that I was better than that,” Williams said. “And that’s what I’m doing now in a different way. I love proving that athletes can turn and have an amazing career.”

Serena Williams