--- title: Serena Williams on Dealing With the Haters in Tennis description: Serena Williams has heard nasty comments throughout her career. But she's never let it stop her. canonical: https://time.com/4925648/serena-williams-tennis/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-07T13:28:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:51.802Z og:title: Serena Williams on Dealing With the Haters og:description: "I don't let anything break me" og:url: https://time.com/4925648/serena-williams-tennis/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263aa7a2addde47f/6988d99cab6d7769216af63e/serena_williams_luisa-dorr-time-firsts-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Serena_williams_luisa-dorr-time-firsts-2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Serena Williams on Dealing With the Haters twitter:description: "I don't let anything break me" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263aa7a2addde47f/6988d99cab6d7769216af63e/serena_williams_luisa-dorr-time-firsts-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Serena Williams on Dealing With the Haters by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Sep 7, 2017 1:28 PM UTC  Portrait of Serena Williams, photographed at the John V. Lindsay East River Park Tennis Courts, September 13, 2016. Portrait of Serena Williams, photographed at the John V. Lindsay East River Park Tennis Courts, September 13, 2016.Luisa Dörr for TIME by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Sep 7, 2017 1:28 PM UTC [_Serena Williams_](http://time.com/collection/firsts/4921998/4898599/serena-williams-firsts) _is part of_ [TIME ](http://time.com/firsts)[Firsts](http://time.com/firsts)_,_ _a multimedia project featuring 46 groundbreaking women. Watch the rest of the videos at_ [_Time.com/Firsts_](http://time.com/Firsts)_._ _Buy the book at the_ [_TIME Shop_](https://shop.time.com/?utm%5Fsource=fortune.com.mpw&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fcampaign=time-firsts&utm%5Fcontent=in-article-tout) Serena Williams has heard nasty comments throughout her career. But she’s never let it stop her. “I think any experience can make you stronger,” Williams says in “Firsts,” TIME’s multimedia project featuring candid interviews with 46 groundbreaking women. “I don’t let anything break me.” Being in the spotlight as a superstar tennis player who became the first to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era has made Williams a target for attacks over her body, her gender, and the color of her skin. “It isn’t always easy to be on the stage playing a tournament and have someone making a comment about your body, that it’s too strong,” Williams says. “I think the biggest criticism that, not only me, but my peers go through is there will be something saying we don’t deserve as much prize money as our male counterparts. When you work so hard, you dedicate yourself. It shouldn’t be a double standard.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4925648/serena-williams-tennis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4925648/serena-williams-tennis/"},"headline":"Serena Williams on Dealing With the Haters","datePublished":"2017-09-07T13:28:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:51.802Z","description":"\"I don't let anything break me\"","url":"https://time.com/4925648/serena-williams-tennis/","keywords":["motto","onetime","Firsts"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263aa7a2addde47f/6988d99cab6d7769216af63e/serena_williams_luisa-dorr-time-firsts-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt263aa7a2addde47f/6988d99cab6d7769216af63e/serena_williams_luisa-dorr-time-firsts-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Serena_williams_luisa-dorr-time-firsts-2017","caption":"Portrait of Serena Williams, photographed at the John V. 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