--- 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: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 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' > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## 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) ## Transcript People will look at you and they'll try and define you. Whether you're a woman, whether you're young, they'll try and cabin off what you're able to do. But people can only do that if you let them and so I always viewed my job as defining myself >> If we are in a meeting we're there for a reason, not to just sit there and absorb. If you are only there not speaking you kind of create the impression that you're not prepared to be there. You need to participate and you need to know what you're talking about. You can ask a man to do a job that he's never been qualified to do and he will raise his hand and say, absolutely, I will do that job. Women always say, I'm not sure if I'm ready yet, More experience. I don't necessarily know if there's anything wrong with being more cautious and careful. I mean why have we come to decide that being brash and overly aggressive should be the way we are. But we should also know that we're not going to feel any wiser or any more ready in ten years than we did ten years ago. So we might as well just leave. There is a lot of perception of, My gosh, it's really hard because of the gender. What are you gonna do about that, just not do it? If you want to do something, you just do it, and then hope that people catch up to you. For girls that are going to be playing little league, anything could happen. You could be up by 10 runs, and you can loose the game. So stay focused, make sure you play as a team, and hopefully you hit a home run, because no girl has ever hit a home run, and I'll be cheering for you. You'll never make everyone happy, so you just have to be exactly who it is that you are, and at least know that you've been true to yourself. It's about attitude, aptitude, and opportunity. Who knew I would be here? But it all started with folks that thought I had a good attitude. That put me in places that challenged me and then provided me opportunities because I met and exceeded the standard. You often don't realize, people want you to succeed, and they often have very good solutions, both practical and in terms of thinking of opportunities for you. And the other thing is, I think it's not too bad Periods of great intensity doing one thing or the other. Meryl Streep once said, " Every successful woman's life has its ebbs and flows ." Know your power, know the power of your intellect, of your values and commitment, the courage that you have, and don't let anybody trivialize How you have spent your years. All of them have contributed to making a very unique and special person. Just take joy, don't let anyone discourage you from that thing that you love the most. It's more about making life. 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