She’s the number one player in women’s tennis, sitting on a fortune of almost $145 million, with 21 Grand Slam titles under her belt, so it should come as no surprise that Serena Williams doesn’t have time for body shamers.
The 33-year-old spoke to Robin Roberts on Good Morning America about body image, confidence and learning to ignore the haters.
The ‘Queen of Tennis’ spoke candidly about the backlash she’s been facing over her ‘over muscular’ body, commenting “This is me, and I love me and I’ve had to learn to love me. I embrace me. I’ve been like this my whole life, I love how I look.”
“I love that I am a full woman and I’m strong and I’m powerful and I’m beautiful at the same time. And there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“If I get caught up looking at all the negatives, then it could really bring you down,” the tennis champ said, “And I just don’t have time to be brought down. I have too many things to do. You know, I have Grand Slams to win, I have people to inspire and that’s what I’m here for.”
And it’s not the first time Serena has spoken out about her body. Speaking to The Huffington Post, Serena admitting that her body issues weighed heavily on her growing up.
“It wasn’t very easy – growing up,” she confessed to The Post, “Venus was like a model. I was thicker.”
“Most women athletes are pretty thin,” she said, “I didn’t really know how to deal with it. I had to come to terms — as every teen and young adult does — with loving myself. I had to find different role models.”
“But my body type is in style now, so I’m loving it!”
Serena is currently competing in the US Open, which, if she wins, will make her the first player since Steffi Graf to win a calendar year of Grand Slams.
