“Lost in Like 50mins”: Serena Williams Reminisces Her WTA Debut and Emphasizes on ‘Not Giving Up’

The impact of Williams sisters on women’s tennis over the past two decades has been nothing short of exemplary. While it was Venus who started to script history at a very young age, younger sister Serena Williams followed suit and ended up as the all-time greats in women’s tennis.

On this day, twenty-eight years ago, a 14-year old Serena made her professional tennis debut at a WTA qualifying event in the city of Quebec in Canada.

Serena Williams made her professional debut on this day in October, 1995

A year earlier, Venus Williams made her debut on the WTA tour. Now, a young Serena faced the then world no.149, Annie Miller. The American lost to Miller in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Post this loss, the 23-time major champion came back on tour in 1997 and the rest was history.

The matchup against Miller took less than an hour and Serena was gutted to have lost that way.

“I felt bad out there because I lost. I didn’t play like I meant to play. I played kind of like an amateur”, explained the American.

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Few years ago, Annie Miller told ESPN about the experience of defeating Serena Williams on her professional debut. “Truth be told, even though Serena Williams would go on to be the best of all time, I was like, ‘I should definitely beat her because I’ve been doing this for a while'”.

Remembering her debut loss, Serena Williams shared the article from Tennis.com and wrote, “I lost 6-1,6-1, in like 50 mins…But I kept going”. The unmatched resilience of the American is what’s made her sit among the best female tennis players of all time.

Serena’s run for the elusive 24th major title will continue next year

Currently in rehab for a torn hamstring, the former world no.1 is most likely to make an appearance at the Australian Open next year. After winning the happy slam in 2017, Serena couldn’t add another slam title to her name.

With the advent of numerous youngsters on the WTA tour and their fearless tennis on the big stage, the American had to concede defeats to opponents such as Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu in major finals.

While women’s tennis continues to fetch talented players who are ready to win slams every year, it might become increasingly difficult for Serena Williams to win the elusive 24th major title and become an all-time great in tennis.

However, the American’s perseverance is what brought her this far and the same might just push her to win one more slam before she calls it a ‘day’.

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