Serena Williams is a legend not just on the court, but also off of it. The sheer resilience and tenacity of the player have made her the icon that she is today. This would not have been possible without the consistent efforts of her father, Richard Williams. This is portrayed in the Nike ad, which was released back in 2018.

He pushed both his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams, to come out of their comfort zones and aim for whatever they wanted to have. He made them realize their dreams and always had their back in their toughest moments.

Richard Williams pushed Serena to realize her US Open dream

Everyone dreams of their ideal lives, and this comes with visualizing how we want it all to be. Richard Williams also did the same thing when he was training his daughters. When he trained Serena Williams, he pushed her to play her best, not just by guiding how she should play but also by boosting up her morale by creating a scenario in her head. One such was that of the US Open.

In the Nike advertisement, we can see Richard Williams guiding Serena on her service motion. He said, “This is you at the US Open. This service motion. Very good. Keep that perfect service motion you have.” He guides her through the match and in the ad, we can see snippets of her at the US Open. He said, “Right there. Good. Switch to the backhand. Lean into it.”

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Furthermore, he went “Woo! (he laughs), Good follow-through, take the net. Nice try. Make sure you are controlling that ball in every shot. There you go! Very good.” We could hear the enthusiasm in his voice when he said, “Back, back, back. Put away! Be tough, just like you wanna win, just like you’re at the US Open. Thank you. It’s just you. Very good Serena Williams.”

Serena Williams at the US Open

From her first two matches, it is evident that Serena Williams is playing with the same tenacity even in her last US Open. And over the years, the words of her father have guided her to six US Open titles.

Her first grand slam title came at the US Open in 1999 when she was just 17 years old, where she defeated Martina Hingis. Now, she has defeated world no. 2 Anett Kontaveit to reach the third round of the US Open.

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Can Serena continue her good form and equalize Margaret Court’s all-time record?