--- title: Serena Williams Wants Tennys Sandgren to Apologize description: Serena Williams is demanding an apology from Tennys Sandgren in an Instagram post. canonical: https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/ author: Michael Corvo article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-24T20:16:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:54.575Z og:title: Serena Williams Demands Apology From Tennys Sandgren for Past Opinions og:description: "Your mistakes don't define you" og:url: https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b908cd0eb41aff9/6988f42ebc6cfc41123e43d8/serena-williams.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2017 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Serena Williams Demands Apology From Tennys Sandgren for Past Opinions twitter:description: "Your mistakes don't define you" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b908cd0eb41aff9/6988f42ebc6cfc41123e43d8/serena-williams.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Serena Williams to Tennys Sandgren: 'There Is an Entire Group of People That Deserves an Apology' ## Video: FIRSTS Serena Williams [Watch (HLS stream): FIRSTS Serena Williams](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qRrT89Xb.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2017-09-02. Serena Williams is the FIRST tennis player to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era._ by [Michael Corvo](https://time.com/author/michael-corvo/) ## Michael Corvo Jan 24, 2018 8:16 PM UTC  Serena Williams attends the 2017 Glamour Women of the Year Awards in New York City. Serena Williams attends the 2017 Glamour Women of the Year Awards in New York City.Taylor Hill—FilmMagic by [Michael Corvo](https://time.com/author/michael-corvo/) ## Michael Corvo Jan 24, 2018 8:16 PM UTC Serena Williams is demanding an apology from Tennys Sandgren. The tennis champion tweeted “there is an entire group of people that deserves an apology” on Wednesday morning. Sandgren came under fire for his social media posts featuring links to alt-right internet personalities. Sandgren initially defended his views before [scrubbing offending tweets](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/tennis/2018/01/23/tennys-sandgren-deletes-tweets-controversial-alt-right-content-australian-open/1056874001/) and [criticizing the media](https://twitter.com/7tennis/status/956047645893636097?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-956047645893636097%26autosize%3D1) in a press conference. “Turns channel” Williams [began in a tweet](https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/955991336729145344) before Sandgren’s quarterfinal, but her latest [tweet](https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/956160473518526464/photo/1?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Ftennis%2Faus%2F2018%2F01%2F24%2Fserena-williams-tweets-tennys-sandgren-he-should-apologize%2F1061034001%2F) was more pointed than that. “I don’t need or want one. But there is a entire group of people that deserves an apology. I cant look at my daughter and tell her I sat back and was quiet. No! she will know how to stand up for herself and others — through my example.” She also paired her post with a quote. “Maturity is being able to apologize and admit when you’re wrong because you know that your mistakes don’t define you.” Back in 2015, Sandgren shared a news article about Williams’ conduct during a match with the commentary “disgusting.” It’s unclear which specific remarks by Sandgren Williams is referring to, but Williams makes it clear the apology is not for her. > [](https://twitter.com/serenawilliams/status/956160473518526464) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/"},"headline":"Serena Williams to Tennys Sandgren: 'There Is an Entire Group of People That Deserves an Apology'","datePublished":"2018-01-24T20:16:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:05:54.575Z","description":"Serena Williams is demanding an apology from Tennys Sandgren in an Instagram post.","url":"https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/","keywords":["Newsfeed","tennis","onetime","Sports"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b908cd0eb41aff9/6988f42ebc6cfc41123e43d8/serena-williams.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Corvo","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-corvo/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b908cd0eb41aff9/6988f42ebc6cfc41123e43d8/serena-williams.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards","caption":"2017 Glamour Women Of The Year Awards","creditText":"Taylor Hill—FilmMagic","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/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/","name":"Serena Williams to Tennys Sandgren: 'There Is an Entire Group of People That Deserves an Apology'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"FIRSTS Serena Williams","description":"Serena Williams is the FIRST tennis player to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open era.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qRrT89Xb/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-09-02T02:57:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qRrT89Xb.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/","duration":"PT2M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5116767/serena-williams-tennys-sandgren-apology/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```