--- title: Serena Williams: 'It Has Been a Struggle to Love My Body' description: But the 34-year-old tennis player has been subjected to continued negative commentary on her body. canonical: https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-05T20:41:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:02:55.431Z og:title: Serena Williams: 'It Has Been a Struggle to Love My Body' og:description: "Women face so many impossible ideals" og:url: https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222d1c43af6b05a9/6988779d0b72e3dff76e780e/serena-williams-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Serena Williams: 'It Has Been a Struggle to Love My Body' twitter:description: "Women face so many impossible ideals" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222d1c43af6b05a9/6988779d0b72e3dff76e780e/serena-williams-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Serena Williams: 'It Has Been a Struggle to Love My Body' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence [Watch (HLS stream): Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zdwprGtE.m3u8) (0:58)  _Published 2014-04-24. Serena Williams talks about the importance of family._  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 5, 2016 8:41 PM UTC  SI 2015 Sportsperson of the Year Serena Williams attends Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony 2015 at Pier 60 on December 15, 2015 in New York City. SI 2015 Sportsperson of the Year Serena Williams attends Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony 2015 at Pier 60 on December 15, 2015 in New York City. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 5, 2016 8:41 PM UTC Serena Williams had a banner year in tennis, winning three of the four majors, finishing the season with a 53-3 record and being named the [Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year](http://time.com/4152274/serena-williams-sportsperson-of-the-year-acceptance-speech/). But the 34-year-old tennis player was also [subjected to continued negative commentary](http://time.com/4032051/serena-williams-us-open-grand-slam/) — and even attacks — on her body. In a recent interview with [The Times Magazine](http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/magazine/article4646596.ece), Williams spoke about her [personal battle with body image](http://time.com/4129213/amy-schumer-nude-pirelli-calendar/). “When I was younger, it was hard seeing all these thin athletes when I had more muscular curves and was big-busted,” she said. “Just try running with DDs that are bouncing seven inches up and down! It’s distracting, not to mention dangerous, because you can tear ligaments.” She also explained how she has learned to love herself and ignore her critics. “I know I get flack for my physique, and it has been a struggle to love my body, but now curves are in and I’m happier \[with\] myself,” Williams said. “Women face so many impossible ideals. It’s important for me to get across that there’s more than one way to look amazing. ## Transcript The most influential person for me has always been hard just to name one single person, but I would say mostly my family. My mom, my dad, and my sisters. They just, we grew up in such an environment where it was all about family and all about, you know, supporting each other and just always making sure that we protected each other. So even to this day I still live with my sister. We still play tennis together. We do so, so, so many things and so, it's like a family unit for me that's just so important. Being on the Time 100 list is really exciting to be considered as one of the most, 100 most influential people, for me, it's great. I just try to do the best I can everyday. And I always try to stay positive through the ups and the downs and often try to keep a smile on my face, so hopefully I can influence people out there to just be the best that they can. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/"},"headline":"Serena Williams: 'It Has Been a Struggle to Love My Body'","datePublished":"2016-01-05T20:41:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:02:55.431Z","description":"\"Women face so many impossible ideals\"","url":"https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Sports topic","Athletes","Body Image","tennis","health","serena williams"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222d1c43af6b05a9/6988779d0b72e3dff76e780e/serena-williams-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt222d1c43af6b05a9/6988779d0b72e3dff76e780e/serena-williams-body-image.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony 2015","caption":"SI 2015 Sportsperson of the Year Serena Williams attends Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony 2015 at Pier 60 on December 15, 2015 in New York City.","creditText":"Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/","name":"Serena Williams: 'It Has Been a Struggle to Love My Body'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Serena Williams on Her Biggest Influence","description":"Serena Williams talks about the importance of family.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zdwprGtE/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-24T10:24:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zdwprGtE.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/","duration":"PT58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4168148/serena-williams-body-image-struggle-to-love-body/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```