After Serena Williams lost to Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of US Open 2022, a momentary hush enveloped New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium. Having announced her decision to “evolve away from tennis” in August, Serena’s defeat was seen by many as the last chapter of an unprecedented career. Even though Serena’s solemn post-match press conference gave her fans hopes of “never say never”, it is unlikely that the 40-year-old will ever step on a professional tennis court again.
As Serena’s admirers around the world pay tribute to the winner of 23 individual Grand Slams (to go with her 14 doubles titles, all with older sister Venus), we revisit seven key moments from King Richard, the biopic on Serena’s father Richard Williams directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (streaming on Prime Video), to trace the early signs, traits and styles that would go on to shape Serena.
The Williams sisters singing and playing together
Serena grew up as the youngest of Richard’s five daughters, with the family moving to Compton, California, where Serena started playing tennis at the age of four. In the opening stages of King Richard, the bond between the Williams sisters is depicted beautifully in a heartwarming scene where they sing, play charades and gently tease each other.
The scene assumes a profound note once Richard (played with poise and panache by Will Smith) enters his daughters’ room (shared by all five) to tell them to go to sleep and remind them that “if you fail to plan, you should plan to fail”. Just before closing the door, Richard issues another reminder, which also rings of a promise. He tells his daughters that one day they will be able to buy as many beds as they want, that they will not be “stuck here forever”. The Serena that the world sees today as the highest-earning female athlete in history came from humble beginnings and a childhood that was spent within modest means. This scene characterises all that without giving into sentimentality or victimhood, giving Venus, Serena and the other young girls the licence to dream together.
‘I’d like other people to want to play like me’
The first half of King Richard reaches one of its high notes when Paul Cohen, coach of the likes of John McEnroe and Pete Sampras, examines the talents of Venus and Serena. Both impress Cohen with their strength and agility, as Richard keeps filming everything that happens in the training session. After Cohen is done serving balls to the girls, he calls both of them to the net and asks them why they are doing what they are doing.
Venus goes first and reveals her ambition to win more Wimbledons than anybody else. Cohen then turns to Serena to ask her which player on the women’s tour she would like to emulate. A self-assured Serena smiles and says: “I’d like other people to want to play like me”. The statement shows the clarity and single-mindedness Serena possessed even as a teenager, qualities that undoubtedly helped make her words come true, as she went on to inspire a generation of girls, including Naomi Osaka and Cori Gauff, to take up tennis and “play like me”.
Serena secretly enters a tournament
In one of the more light-hearted moments in King Richard, the patriarch of the Williams family looks puzzled as a passer-by informs him of Serena’s skills while Richard is watching Venus play at a tournament. Richard quickly heads over to the adjacent court to find that Serena has somehow managed to register herself in the competition without informing her dad. But instead of admonishing her, Richard tells her to “finish what you started” and, more importantly, “to have fun”.
For most of the film, Richard comes across as protective and overbearing, imposing his opinion on his daughters, which, to give him his due, largely works. And yet, in this rare moment, Richard is able to let Serena decide for herself, which allows her to be responsible for her own choices and take an important step in the journey of growing up.
A moment from the film King Richard. Prime Video
Richard takes his daughters out of the junior circuit
Not many have the courage to chart the untrodden path when the prospect of quick money and fame is dangled before them. Fewer still find their way to their destination upon embarking on that path. Richard happens to be one of those rare people to have done both. Once Venus and Serena start catching the eye of professional agents with their game, one high-profile agent approaches Richard to sign up his daughters. But Richard, wary that his daughters will be deprived of a normal upbringing, rejects the proposal.
In an emotionally charged moment in the film, he even proceeds to take Venus and Serena out of the junior circuit altogether, ending their association with Cohen in the process. In the long run of reality, Richard stands vindicated, as Venus, and especially Serena, do not lose their heads on eventually meeting fame and fortune and go on to play till their forties, something very few tennis prodigies from their era have come close to achieving.
“You gonna be the greatest of all time”
In one of the most sublime moments from King Richard, Serena gazes at a tennis court hours before her sister Venus is about to face the limelight in her first professional tournament. Serena knows that her sister is on her way to greatness and, for the only time in the film, doubts her own progress as a result. Sensing this, Richard approaches her to tell her how all this “is a part of my plan”. He confides in Serena that he has deliberately kept her in the shadow of Venus because he knew that she was “rough”, “tough” and a “fighter”. In a spine-chilling line from the conversation, Richard tells Serena that “your sister is going to be number one in the whole world… but you, you gonna be the best there ever was… you gonna be the greatest of all time”. History proves that Richard was right, not once but twice.
Despite an intense rivalry, Venus and Serena have never forgotten their roots or their kinship. TT archives
Venus takes Serena along to sign autographs
Gutted after her defeat following a bout of gamesmanship from her opponent at the Bank of the West Classic, Venus’s mood is immediately transformed after she is swarmed by her fans, as the 14-year-old realises for the first time that she has become a celebrity. As her parents urge her to indulge her supporters, Venus turns to her left and holds Serena’s hand, gesturing to her to come along and sign autographs.
The moment is sweet and simple yet significant, and it captures how the Williams sisters never forgot the kinship that underpinned everything they did. Even though Venus pioneered the rise of African-American women in tennis, Serena went on to have a more glittering career, ending with 19 victories to Venus’s 12 in their head-to-head matches. In spite of their inevitable competition, the sisters never let their rivalry spill over into enmity, for their ultimate victory lay in taking the sport forward together.
The concluding montage
Like many sports biopics, King Richard ends with archival footage showing the protagonists from real life. Using a montage that intercuts between the moments depicted in the film and subsequent glorious scenes from Venus and Serena’s careers, King Richard reiterates its enduring message, one that has formed the foundation of Serena’s stupendous success — if you dare to dream and give it your all, you will blaze a trail, not just for yourself, but for posterity. Watching the real Venus and Serena celebrate together makes for a wonderful culmination to the arc that had been established so effortlessly by Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton (who play Venus and Serena, respectively), and is bound to tease the tear ducts of all Serena fans in light of everything they have felt since Serena’s likely farewell.
