--- description: Williams is on a mission — and how amazing that we all get to witness it title: Dwyane Wade on Serena Williams: The Champion Who Won’t Give Up image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce1a232db0726e73/6987eb0a35ba6fbd15c0adb5/461261876-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [women](/tag/women/) ## women Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Dwyane Wade on Serena Williams: The Champion Who Won’t Give Up by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2014 9:34 PM CUT  Serena Williams in a match during the 2015 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Jan. 10, 2015 Serena Williams in a match during the 2015 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Jan. 10, 2015Paul Kane—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2014 9:34 PM CUT I first met Serena over a decade ago in Miami when I joined the Heat. Since then, I’ve watched her grow and dominate in her sport, overcoming adversity to win title after title. There is no doubt that she has made an incredible impact on the world of tennis, but it’s her determination to never give up that has always resonated with me. Serena is a friend, but I also look up to her as a fellow athlete. I respect her relentless work ethic, focus, drive and discipline. I understand what it’s like to sustain injuries and the fight it takes to come back from them. I admire her ability to fight and how she has defied the odds with sheer determination and heart. _Read the rest_ [_here_](http://time.com/70910/serena-williams-2014-time-100/ "undefined")_._ **Read more:** [Exploring a Decade of TIME100 in Photos](http://time.com/time-100-decade-change/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3821754/dwyane-wade-serena-williams/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3821754/dwyane-wade-serena-williams/"},"headline":"Dwyane Wade on Serena Williams: The Champion Who Won’t Give Up","datePublished":"2014-04-23T21:34:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:23:49.765Z","description":"Williams is on a mission — and how amazing that we all get to witness it","url":"https://time.com/3821754/dwyane-wade-serena-williams/","keywords":["women","society","Sports topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce1a232db0726e73/6987eb0a35ba6fbd15c0adb5/461261876-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltce1a232db0726e73/6987eb0a35ba6fbd15c0adb5/461261876-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Serena Williams in a match during the 2015 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Jan. 10, 2015","caption":"Serena Williams in a match during the 2015 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia on Jan. 10, 2015","creditText":"Paul Kane—Getty Images","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":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/women/","name":"women"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3821754/dwyane-wade-serena-williams/","name":"Dwyane Wade on Serena Williams: The Champion Who Won’t Give Up"}}]}] ```