01x01 - Out of the Shadow

[bunniefuu]

[intriguing music playing]

[metallic grinding]

[whirring]

[Serena Williams]

It's lonely at the top.

When you're the best,

no one really talks to you.

They kind of look at you

and want what you have

and know that they'll never get there

as long as I'm there.

At the end of the day,

I wasn't there to make friends.

I was there to win.

-I looked different. I played different.

-[grunting]

I was more emotional.

I was better. I was stronger.

I had muscles.

[commentator] Their ability to overpower

the other women

was hurting the game.

It's in-your-face type of tennis.

They representing Compton.

Like, representing us.

[Serena] I didn't need to blend in.

I needed to be different.

'Cause I was different.

I was something that no one

had ever seen before, ever.

[grunting]

[crowd cheering]

[commentator] Serena Williams was so

dominant that nobody could touch her.

[Serena] I never started out

to have this career.

I never could have dreamed

that I would win

all those numbers.

But, with that being said,

once you start winning,

winning is like a big drug.

[crowd cheering]

It's something that I had

to have and I had to do.

[yells indistinctly]

[crowd cheering]

Every time I did it,

I wanted to do it again.

[yells indistinctly]

And it always feels good.

It never goes away.

Then it becomes

like an expected feeling.

And this is so sad, but

well, I think, "Gosh,

I could have had more wins."

But that's the perfectionist,

that's the athlete,

that's the Serena in me.

[Richard Williams]

These two girls that you see

in the picture here

is our Serena Williams.

Raise your hand, Serena.

Venus Williams.

We want you to see

how good they are at tennis.

So you want to relax,

take it easy, and get a chance

to see some real good

tennis players.

[Serena] When I think back,

I was just a kid

that had big dreams.

Obviously, you can't predict anything,

and you can't predict anyone.

Taking this little kid,

the little sister

from the Williams sisters

from Compton,

can't really take that

too serious, right?

[narrator] Only a few miles

down the sunny freeway

from the glamour of Los Angeles

is Compton, California.

Nobody rich lives here.

Compton is home to street gangs,

like the Crips and the Bloods,

but also to two young girls

who may represent

the future of a sport

not typically associated

with the inner city.

[Serena] This is not normally

how that story goes.

Usually it's a different area,

in particular with tennis,

usually white girls or white men.

So all eyes were on us because

we weren't like anybody else.

The girls learned tennis

from their father,

Richard Williams, on the rough courts

in Compton, California,

near South Central Los Angeles.

[Serena] My dad always said

that he wanted us to play tennis

because he was watching this player.

She won more in a week

than he did all year.

I seen a girl win

a tennis tournament,

and she made more in that tournament

than what I made in a year.

[Serena] Then my dad taught

himself how to play tennis.

He got books,

and he watched videos.

And my mom, Oracene,

was also our coach as well.

A lot of people don't realize

how important my mom was

in developing us as tennis players.

There you go. Be ready.

As soon as it bounces.

There you go. That's the girl.

[Serena] They were our parents,

and there's a very thin line

between parent and coach.

And at times it wasn't great.

[Richard] Back in our face!

Back up in our face, Serena.

Just the one.

[Serena] But I say, at the end,

it was all worth it.

And once people did see,

a lot of people wanted

to watch and kind of see,

"What is this?

Who are these girls?"

[intriguing music playing]

I actually never thought

I was good at tennis.

You have to understand,

I was growing up next to Venus Williams,

who was the prodigy of all prodigies.

She was taller than me,

and she was stronger than me.

And I also was very small for my age.

I was this tiny, little girl

that my whole game

[laughs] was hitting lobs

and drop shots,

and it's nothing like my game today.

I just wasn't strong enough.

So I would hit lob,

and then I'd wait

and I'd move my feet really good,

I'd hit a drop shot.

And my matches would be,

like, two hours. [laughs]

[interviewer] How do you play

against your sister?

Well, when she's at the baseline,

it's easier for me to come closer

to beating her

because I can just hit side to side.

I was like that kind of player that

you just hated playing in juniors.

That was me.

So I never thought about being good.

I never thought about being bad.

I just knew I couldn't beat Venus

unless I cheated.

And I remember [laughs]

cheating her in a match.

Any ball that was on the line,

I just called it out.

It was so bad. Um [laughs]

For me, it was always

Venus and Serena.

She was the phenom.

[wondrous music playing]

[Curry Kirkpatrick]

There are prodigies, there are oddities,

and there are cultural phenomenons,

and then there is Venus.

Her name is from another planet,

and her tennis talent seems

absolutely intergalactic as well.

[grunts] Ooh, sorry.

[Richard] It's okay.

Don't worry about me.

I was just always told

I was good at tennis,

and I beat a lot of people. [laughs]

That was immediate feedback

in the right direction.

[interviewer] What's the toughest match

you've ever been in?

Probably the one against my sister.

-Mm.

-[giggles]

Growing up,

there were five of us.

I was number four, so I was

real low in the pecking order.

Hardly any responsibility

outside of playing tennis

for hours a day.

I got off easy, and I was only

responsible for one other,

which was Serena,

because she was the youngest,

and I was her older sister.

Growing up with my sisters,

we all shared

a one-bedroom in Compton,

and we had two sets of bunk beds.

And by the time I came, like,

there was no more bed for me.

And so, um

I didn't have a bed growing up.

Venus used to tell me stories

at night to put me to sleep

because I couldn't go

to sleep, and so

she would say, "Okay,

I'm gonna tell you a story."

It could be about princesses

or dragons or whatever it was.

She would always tell me these

amazing, elaborate stories,

and I would go to sleep,

like, two seconds in.

[Venus] I made up a lot

of fantastic stories

that I do not remember,

but I think they were pretty good.

I just wish that I remembered them now

and write a book about it

"Serena's Bedtime Stories."

[Serena] Venus is such

a big part of my life.

I wanted to do everything

that she did.

So I think that's the main reason

I continued to stay in tennis,

because it was hard, it was grueling.

At some point, you wanted to hang out

with other kids and do other things,

but she was always on the court,

and she was always grinding,

and I was like,

"Okay, I don't want

to be left behind."

[Richard] Low off it,

low off it. Great. Nice.

[Serena] So I was definitely

keeping up, but I also

I've always just

innately wanted to

be good at whatever I did.

Yeah, that's you. That's you, Serena.

Get right in her face.

Good. Get ready for the next one.

[Serena]

I just wanted to stand out.

And the best way for me

to stand out in tennis was

just to, you know, do a little

bit more than keeping up.

[narrator] Richard Williams

has coached both girls

since the age of four,

but he knows that for them

to reach new heights,

the family must leave

their home in Compton

to study at academies more equipped

to take their game to the next level.

[Serena] My dad decided

that we needed more help,

and we needed more support,

and all these decisions

I didn't know what was happening.

I just knew that we were

going to go to Florida

and play more tennis,

and I was excited.

Their father, looking to take

their game up a notch,

pulled them out of junior competitions

and cut a deal with Rick Macci

for free training

at this Florida tennis academy.

[Serena] So my dad stopped

Venus and I from playing

junior tournaments because

he said he couldn't handle,

and he didn't want us to see

everything that was happening.

I think no one wanted a million dollars

as bad as I did at first.

I was always thinking, "Gosh, I'm going

to make a million dollars now."

But when I go to the junior tournament

and see kids get hit over the head

or beat up,

I come to realize that

I don't need that million dollars

that bad at all.

He kept his daughters

out of junior tournaments

and shielded them from agents

and overzealous coaches.

[Oracene] I didn't want them kids

being prostituted

or exploited in any kind of way.

Then you want to keep them

well adjusted, well balanced.

Richard Williams says he has stressed

school, religion, and then tennis.

All my dreams weren't

on the tennis court.

I learned guitar

and started listening to Green Day.

I became this low-key punk rocker

'cause I liked Bad Religion

and Rancid and stuff like that.

And back then, I loved to skateboard.

That's how I got a good forehand,

was by skateboarding.

My backhand used to be

really, really amazing.

And one day I was at school,

but I didn't want to be there,

so I just took my skateboard out,

and I went skateboarding

in the neighborhood.

Fell, hurt my wrist really bad,

and I never told my dad.

So I couldn't really hit backhands.

I'm like, "No, I'll work

on my forehand today.

I want my forehand to get better."

I remember her forehand

getting much bigger after that,

and I'm thinking,

"Maybe I should fall." [laughs]

[Serena] I don't know

how we did all this

and still trained so hard.

[wondrous music playing]

[grunts]

[Serena] I think my dad

was a marketing genius.

He always put Venus out there,

and he had such a genius way

of making our story be seen and told.

So he got my sister out there,

and then he started to say

that I was going to be better.

Serena will be a better player.

So phenomenal, the way

she can play the angles

and the power that she has.

He used to call me, like, a pit bull.

He was like, "Serena is such

a pit bull out there.

She just goes out there and

she just bites, bites, bites,

and she fights, and she's very

aggressive and very strong."

I honestly never believed

that he thought

that I was going to be better.

I don't know if it was the fact

that I didn't believe in myself,

and that's why I never believed it.

I always thought that my dad

was doing that just

so I can get some recognition,

to make sure that I had an opportunity

to play professional tennis.

Even myself always thought

that Venus was far better than me,

and she would always

be the greatest.

Venus Williams is breathtaking

in practice,

but practice is all we've seen so far

from the 14-year-old phenom.

That changes Monday when she makes

her professional debut

in Oakland, California.

[commentator] Williams' first

pro match will be in Oakland tonight

when she will face Shaun Stafford,

a former NCAA champion in Florida.

I remember Venus' pro debut so well.

[narrator] From all over

the planet they have come

to get a look at Venus.

[Serena] There was this

crazy amount of press,

and I was so nervous for her

when she stepped out

on the court and played her first match.

I did not know what I was doing,

and it worked, is all I can say.

[commentator 1]

Venus never bothered to sit

between changeovers.

Williams said, "I don't sit in practice.

Why should I sit during a match?"

[Venus] We didn't sit down in practice,

so I thought,

"Well, why am I sitting down

in the match?" So I just stood up.

"This kid doesn't even

need a break." [laughs]

[commentator 2]

Venus won last night

with talent and enthusiasm.

[commentator 3] Post match,

Williams behaved like

she had been at it her entire life.

My pro debut was nowhere near

as illustrious, thank God.

We were going to Canada,

and it was a total disaster.

I missed my flight going there.

I wanted to get a hot dog,

and I looked back,

and the plane was taking off.

My dad was like,

"Meka, the plane's leaving."

And I was like, "No."

Oh. Yeah, her debut was so cute.

[laughs]

[Serena] It was like a side court.

It wasn't even the main court.

And I remember thinking,

"I am not ready.

I am not ready to go pro."

Like, "What do you mean,

I have to go pro?"

Of course, I didn't say that,

but I'm like

[gasps] "I'm not ready."

It was really cute.

It was tough for her,

and it's normal to maybe

not win your first match.

[Serena] My body

wasn't ready physically.

I mentally was not ready.

Yeah, I lost in, like,

40 minutes, 6-1,6-1,

to this girl, her name was Annie Miller.

I was angry at the girl

that beat her.

I never let it go.

I should have let it go,

but I didn't for a few years.

Um so I guess I was protective.

[laughs]

The only thing I took away

from that disastrous debut

was that I do not want to step back

out in professional tennis

until I am ready.

And I end up flying later

to watch Venus play.

[commentator] 15-year-old

Venus Williams played

only her sixth professional

match last night in Oakland.

And there it is

[Serena] Watching my sister succeed,

I couldn't have been happier.

Something just clicked

where I just started

to kind of figure out

how to win points

in important times and all the time.

[Serena] It was the best position

I could have been in,

not to be in front, you know,

just watching her

handle all the pressure,

handle all the reporters,

handle everything.

No one really knew, but I was

actually her hitting partner.

So at the same time, I was

practicing my craft as well.

I would watch

her matches so intently,

and I watched everything

that she did,

whether it was good

or whether it was bad.

Whenever she won, I felt like I won.

Whenever she lost,

I couldn't have been more sad.

[reporter] Venus shaking up

the solar system

in and around

Arthur Ashe Stadium today,

becoming the first unseeded

woman to advance

to a US Open singles final.

[Serena] Every mistake

she made, it was like

I made the same mistake,

even though I wasn't on the court.

[commentator]

Ladies and gentlemen,

our 1997 US Open

Women's champion,

Martina Hingis.

And so by the time

I did have an opportunity

to go out there

in a more serious way

it was like I had two years

of experience of playing.

[commentator] Venus Williams is the

better known of the Williams sisters,

but little or not-so-little,

really, sister Serena

has come through the rankings

even faster.

This magnificent stadium

on the island paradise

of Key Biscayne on a perfect day

hosts the world's

major tennis tournament,

save for the Slams,

it's known simply as the Lipton.

[Serena] It was the biggest

tournament at that time,

outside of the Slams.

It was Wimbledon, US Open,

French Open, Australia.

Then it was the Lipton.

I was confident now.

I had that disastrous debut,

but I knew I wasn't going to play again

until I could play professional tennis.

[commentator] Our feature match today,

number one in the world, Martina Hingis.

And of course, one of the pretenders,

and the real serious threats

to her number one,

Serena, the younger Williams sister.

[Serena] I knew that I could

beat these players,

and Martina Hingis was

on the top of my list

'cause I knew that I had

the game to beat her.

[commentator] So Martina Hingis

is number one in the world,

clearly now the favorite

for women's tennis.

I mean, she was such a good player,

so young,

um, but I was determined.

I was determined to take her down.

Her first ball in the air,

best of three sets.

Love, 50.

It was definitely a c*ck feeling,

but at the same time,

I would say it was more confident.

I knew what I was capable of.

No one else knew what I knew.

[cheering]

[Venus] Martina Hingis,

what a competitor.

The game of tennis is made

for people like her.

She positioned her strengths.

She played the chessboard,

she played the court.

I knew her game.

-[commentator 2] Wow.

-Ace for Williams.

Serena Williams, that is.

[Serena] And I was winning.

[cheering]

At the time. I thought,

"Okay, I got this."

[commentator] And that's how it is.

Five games to three.

She's one game away

from beating the world's number one.

[Serena]

I was up 5-3.

I was up, like, two breaks at one point.

[cheering]

[commentator speaking indistinctly]

[Serena] But it's never smooth sailing

with Martina Hingis.

[crowd cheering]

[commentator speaking indistinctly]

the match point.

[commentator 2]

And the momentum has totally

shifted in the last handful of points.

[commentator 1]

The high lob into the wind,

and Serena Williams

tamely with the overhead

But I never felt bad about that loss.

Yeah, I was disappointed, but it's one

of the few losses that I wasn't,

like, super upset over

'cause I knew I had her.

I said, "I got you."

But not only did it prep you,

it prepped everyone else

to know that I'm coming

for not only you,

but I'm coming for everybody.

That was, like, my mission

after a while

was just to be able

to beat her, constantly.

And the Open Gaz de France in 1999

was building up to that.

It was a small arena,

but it was a big WTA tournament,

so everyone would come out

to this small tournament,

and the crowd was crazy.

[cheering]

At some point, I played Julie Halard,

and they were chanting "Julie" so loud,

and it was just overwhelming.

And I'm like, "This is nuts."

They made this song,

and it was like

Allez, allez, allez, Julie ♪

Allez, allez, allez, Julie ♪

And they kept saying it over and over.

And somehow I won,

and I was in the final

of my first tournament,

and it was a big tournament,

and I was like,

"Wow, this is great."

But I wasn't prepared.

With all the French players I played,

I was not prepared

to play Amélie Mauresmo.

She was host number one

at France at the time.

Just gotten to the finals

of Australian Open.

She was doing great things,

and I was like,

"Okay, I can handle the crowd, I think."

[cheering]

[commentators speaking in French]

I could not. It was so loud.

[crowd cheering loudly]

[rumbling]

I could hear it in my chest.

[woman] Merci.

[Serena] The arena was

this small arena,

but it was indoor,

and so everything

vibrated on the walls,

and it was just this insane,

loud chanting

that you could just hear.

Same song, different name

Allez, allez, allez, Amélie ♪

over and over.

And then it was just, "Allez, Amélie."

It was just things you don't forget.

[crowd cheering]

It was crazy.

And somehow I think

we ended up in a tie break,

and I was fighting

like I'd never fought before.

[upbeat music playing]

Playing this girl

who just got to the finals

of the Australian Open

means I could have been in

the finals of the Australian Open.

And then

-I won.

-Mademoiselle Williams.

-[cheering]

-[commentator continues speaking French]

I remember being so elated.

It was my first tournament win,

and to win under those

circumstances, I don't know

many people that have won

their first tournament

under those circumstances,

and I think that definitely helped me

throughout my career because

those were tough circumstances to win.

Ahh!

Venus was actually

playing the same week.

That was the first time

that we played separately.

She's in Oklahoma. I'm in Paris.

Every time I would win a match,

I would check

the scores or call Venus,

and she would win her match.

And so then it became,

like, this amazing

parallel of, like, she won, I won.

Okay, now we're in the semis.

I won, she won.

Finals, I'm in Paris,

so I'm ahead of her.

I won, and it was amazing,

and I was so happy.

And then she won,

and that was, like, the first time

two sisters had won

in the same week.

We weren't together,

but we were together

because we were both

doing something that we had

grown up doing

every single days of our life,

and we were mirroring

each other across the globe.

It was such a great moment

for both of us,

but her especially, because

she also was on her way.

[Serena] I'd won several tournaments

that year.

[commentator] Serena Williams,

a winner

over 21-time Grand Slam

winner Steffi Graf.

[cheers and applause]

She really came up after that.

I feel like something

started to click for her.

She could do anything on the court.

Now, make no mistake about it,

Serena Williams is having

an outstanding year.

Everyone was really, like,

giving me super side eyes.

Like, "We really need to

watch this girl.

She's won two in a row now. This is

We need to take

There's two of them?"

It was just a good year

for me to take the next step.

[wondrous music playing]

[upbeat music playing]

[commentator]

The world's best are here

for the last Grand Slam

of the millennium,

the 1999 US Open.

[commentator 2]

The top ladies shouldn't hit

many roadblocks early on,

but just wait.

The Williams sisters

are in opposite halves

of the draw and could meet

in the final.

[Serena]

Going into New York,

we were on opposite sides

of the draw,

which meant we could

only meet in the final.

Although she has

never won a Grand Slam,

it would be tough not to pick

Venus Williams

as the favorite

to take this year's US Open.

The 19-year-old is on a tear.

[commentator 3]

Seventeen-year-old Serena

has become a major force

on the tour as well.

She can make a statement of her own

in this wide open and competitive field.

[Serena] My dad had a talk

with myself and Venus,

and he said, "This is going

to be a tournament

that you guys

are never going to forget,

and you have an opportunity

to really make history here."

"What are you gonna do?"

And he's like, "You need to be

super focused for this moment.

Whenever you're out on the court,

take this moment and zero in."

[Richard]

Just like you at the US Open.

This is you at the US Open.

Let's go. Boom! Good. Right.

"Whatever it takes,

go out there and do it.

If you're down, come back.

Like, fight. Fight like

a champion that you both are."

I took those words to heart.

[Richard] That's great,

but now you got to overhead

to put it away. Put it away! Let's go.

I I don't know how to explain it.

And I never felt this way again.

I knew before the tournament started

[Richard] This is you.

This is you right there

at the US Open.

-I knew I was gonna win the Open.

-Boom!

[crowd cheering]

It was so clear in my mind

that when my dad was telling me this,

I was like,

"Wow, this is, like, so cool."

Like, "This is a story

I can tell one day

'cause I'm gonna win the Open."

I didn't dream it like

I knew I was gonna win that

tournament. It was this

It had already happened for me.

It was like a premonition.

[commentator] And Serena

joins her sister Venus

in the quarterfinals of the Open.

Anytime I played Monica,

part of me was a little bit

of a fangirl 'cause I was like,

"I'm playing Monica Seles.

She's so cool."

[grunting]

[crowd cheering]

We were going back and forth.

And then I rolled my ankle

in that match really bad.

[indistinct yelling]

It was an awful, awful,

awful ankle sprain.

It was so bad that I thought,

"Okay, well, I'm not

gonna win the US Open."

[commentator] Just rolled over

on that left foot,

just a touch.

That's the whole thing in my career.

I never I never would give up. You

I could be down, match point,

and I will keep fighting.

[crowd cheering]

And so that's what I did.

I just kept fighting,

and next thing I know

-[grunting]

-I won.

[commentator 2]

And the sisters are there.

Semifinals for the first time,

a Grand Slam for Serena.

[commentator 1]

Really picked up her game

as mom and dad look on.

[cheering]

Do you think that now

this is a success in her mind?

Is she Will she be happy

with this result

if she doesn't make it to the Finals?

She's delighted with how

she's played, but, Bill, she wants

She's ready to win a major.

So is Venus.

I mean, I honestly

feel that they believe that.

[dramatic music]

[Serena] Lindsay I was

so confident against

'cause I had beaten Lindsay

a couple of times by then.

My ankle was sprained,

but I had a day to recover.

[applause]

I remember thinking,

"Okay, Lindsay's never

played me this hard."

Like, oh, my God,

she was playing so well.

[commentator 1]

Six games to one.

[commentator 2] The defending

champion has come back

and will play a third set.

And we went three sets again.

And I'm like,

"I'm in another three-set match."

Like, "How is this even possible?"

I really had to fight.

I really had to fight.

[cheering]

[commentator 2] There it is.

40. 50.

Two more match points.

[commentator 3]

Serena Williams on the verge,

perhaps, of her first US Open.

[crowd cheering]

-She's done it.

-6-4, 1-6, 6-4.

[Serena] Lindsay played

incredibly well that day,

but somehow I survived.

[commentator]

An hour and 53 minutes.

And what a moment for Serena.

[Serena] I won, and now

I was gonna be in the Finals.

I had played Lindsay

on the day match,

and I had gone three sets.

[commentator 1]

Serena Williams stopping

to oblige the autograph seekers.

She is on her way to

her first Grand Slam Final.

And my ankle didn't hurt at all.

I was like, "Oh, I guess

maybe it wasn't a bad strain."

And I was just geared up

to watch Venus play

the semifinals against Hingis.

This was the moment

that my dad had spoke about.

We're gonna play each other

in the Final of a Grand Slam.

And all that had to play out

was Hingis versus Venus.

You can almost imagine that Venus

would feel a touch

more pressure at this point,

given that her little sister's

in the final.

I did not feel the pressure

of needing to make

a Grand Slam Final

to show that sisters

could make the Final.

The pressure I felt

was my own expectations.

[commentator 2]

So Venus Williams serving

to stay in this first set.

Nice, 24 minutes.

Hingis, three breaks.

Total domination.

Making it look easy right now.

It was just too much for me.

I couldn't handle the occasion.

Venus has beaten Hingis many times,

and Hingis, same,

beaten Venus a few times as well.

But it was such a big moment.

It was a long three-set match.

Venus wasn't playing

her best tennis,

and I was frustrated

at the same time

'cause I wanted her

to play better, and

I wanted Venus to get

to the Final, obviously.

I just didn't step up.

It's as simple as that.

I think I was waiting

for someone else to lose it.

[commentator 1]

Game, set, match, Hingis.

Two sets to one. 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

[Serena]

After Venus lost to Hingis

I got my racket and I went

right to the practice courts.

P1.

And I started practicing

'cause I wasn't going to lose to Hingis.

I needed to beat her.

I hit, I practiced.

I worked on things

that I knew that was coming,

but it was also mental.

I know Hingis knew

that I went to practice.

I didn't practice long.

I practiced just enough

to let her know that,

"Yeah, I'm going

to be ready for you."

[commentator 1]

staying late last night,

practicing after her match,

after her sister's match.

Didn't leave until quarter to 9:00.

[wondrous music playing]

[commentator 2]

All right, Michelle,

thank you very much.

Serena Williams

stepping out onto the court

at Arthur Ashe Stadium

and out of the shadow

of her sister Venus.

[Serena] I remember passing

so many people

saying congratulations,

like thinking

that I was going to lose.

Like saying, "Oh, it's good

you got to the finals.

You did good."

And I was I hated that.

So by the time

I stepped out on the court

and we're doing the coin toss,

I never talked about this,

but I lose the coin toss,

and the referee says

to Martina, she's like,

"Serve or receive"?

Receive.

And I looked at her,

and I said,

"Are you sure about that?"

And she was, like, startled.

And I was like, "Okay."

[indistinct conversation]

And years later,

I remember thinking,

"I can't believe I said that."

You know, I was like,

"How did I say that?

Oh, my goodness.

I can't believe I said that."

[cheers and applause]

[commentator] 31.

Game win.

[Serena] I won the first three games.

I think she was so startled

by what I had said.

Game win.

[Serena]

After that, the match started.

[commentator] Serena doesn't

appear nervous at all.

First Grand Slam Final.

Hingis has a lot more experience.

[commentator] Game Hingis.

Two years ago,

Richard and Oracene watched

Venus Williams on this stage

in this final against Hingis.

15.

She had some points

in that match that I

just are fantastic,

that just show the competitor

that Serena always was

or had become at that point.

She, like, finally, like, grew

and, like, became a monster

on the court

in the most best and beautiful way.

[crowd cheering]

[commentator 2] Thirty-seven minutes.

Serena Williams

has won the first set

from Martina Hingis.

I won the first set, 6-3,

and I wasn't surprised.

And you just have

to think that the sister

from another planet,

Venus, took quite a bit

of a starch out of Hingis

in the semis.

She should definitely get

an assist with this match.

[Serena] Hingis had had

a long three-hour match against Venus,

and they kept saying

she might be tired.

I was thinking to myself,

"Why are they making excuses

for her?"

Because Seles was three sets,

and Lindsay Davenport

was three sets.

They're not giving me

that benefit of the doubt.

[commentator 1] Game Hingis.

Hingis leads 2-1.

But if you are fortified

in your mind,

and you tell yourself,

"I'm gonna do it.

No matter what I have

to physically go through"

[cheering]

"what I have

to mentally go through"

If you change it in your mind

[crowd cheering]

it will happen.

[commentator] Game.

[crowd cheering]

Serena Williams. She leads 5-3.

Then it starts sinking in my head.

"I'm about to win the US Open.

Oh, my God."

I remember, like, seeing

the prize money was $750,000.

15, 40.

[Serena] And I

kind of got in my head

a little bit too much,

and I kind of just started to crumble.

[yells]

[crowd cheering]

-[commentator] Thirty points.

-One of the worst ways you can think,

is thinking,

"Oh, I have this in my pocket."

Very rare have I thought

that way, um, consciously,

'cause I know consciously,

it's the kiss of death.

Game, Hingis.

[crowd cheering]

I cannot go three sets with Hingis.

I was like, "I cannot go three sets

with Martina Hingis.

She's going to destroy me

in three sets."

And by then, I was getting tired.

[commentator 2] She's not really forcing

the issue, is she? She's allowing

Serena Williams to self-destruct.

[Serena]

Then I'm missing shots.

[commentator 1] Game, Hingis.

[cheering]

I'm like, "Serena, stop missing."

"Remember when you were a junior,

you would just hit lobs and

drop shots. Don't miss."

Game, Hingis. Hingis leads 6-5.

So I started to mix my game up.

I started to hit slice,

and she would make an error

whenever I did that.

[crowd cheering]

I started to get my game back.

Six all, tie break.

So we get to the tie break, I said,

"It's now or never.

You can't go three sets,

so you have to figure out a way to win."

I remember at one point,

she was serving,

and then she missed her first serve,

and it seemed like it was 20 minutes.

And I said, "You have to go for it.

You have to hit a forehand

down the line."

And I'm arguing with myself

because then you could miss.

All of a sudden, the ball comes.

And I'm looking at the ball,

and I hit the ball as hard

as I could down the line.

[cheers and applause]

[commentator 2]

Williams two points away.

I just was like,

"I'm not gonna miss.

There's no way

I'm gonna miss."

So I serve,

and then I just don't miss.

I don't care

if we hit a thousand ba*ls.

Like, I'm literally not gonna miss

'cause I can't go three sets with you.

And I was just like,

"Serena, hit to her backhand.

Don't miss.

Hit to her backhand, don't miss."

[cheering]

[commentator 1]

6-4, Williams.

The tournament was definitely filled

with so much history there.

You know, I think Althea Gibson was

the last African-American woman

at the time

to not only win the US Open,

but to win a Grand Slam, period.

The only thing I was thinking about was

making this premonition come true.

-[crowd cheering]

-Game and championship.

[cheering continues]

[Serena] I felt so relieved.

I was like, "Oh, my God,

I just won the Open."

And I was, like, jumping,

and I was super happy.

But inside my soul,

it was an act,

'cause I just knew I was going to win.

I had this premonition.

I had this feeling,

I don't know what you want

to call it,

but I knew I was going

to win the US Open that year.

And this was just

the physical catching up

with what had already happened.

[commentator 2]

From the public courts

of Compton, California,

to US Open champion.

[cheers and applause]

[Serena] Everything that led up

to that moment, Gaz de France,

Indian Wells, and all

the other little tournaments,

all the ones that I won

that year led me

to this moment that I was

going to win the Open.

[crowd cheering]

[court announcer]

Ladies and gentlemen,

the 1999 US Open

Women's Singles champion,

Serena Williams.

[wondrous music playing]

[commentator 2]

Well, it seems like forever.

She shared everything

with her sister Venus,

but now the stage

belongs to Serena.

It wasn't that I wasn't happy

for her.

It's just, you know,

we all get caught up

in our inner struggle,

and I was

in my own inner struggles.

I think I was still,

like, in the past,

in my own match way too much,

instead of, um, enjoying the moment.

[Serena] The best thing

that happened in my career

was coming up behind my sister.

Everyone expected her to do good.

I can't imagine the pressure she felt

as a 15-year-old

and as a 16-year-old.

Like, I don't know if I would have

handled that pressure the same.

I feel like I was able to

go so much faster

because of everything

that she had went through.

Right after I walked off, uh,

center court, I couldn't walk.

It was like the ankle injury,

it came back,

and I physically couldn't walk.

It was crazy.

I'd never experienced

had that much adrenaline

where it literally took away my pain

for two matches,

which is a period of, like, four days.

How do you think this

changes your life going on?

Wow. I don't know.

I guess I have a lot of requests

to go on a day show and stuff, so

You want to buy something?

Ah! [laughs] I didn't think about that.

Hmm. [laughs]

The minute I left

that press conference, like,

I couldn't see it at the time,

but I had a big X,

big red X on my back.

Girls would talk in the locker room

about how they had to beat us.

It became us against everyone else,

and then eventually it became

me against everyone else.

It was just like,

"We don't want her to win.

We don't care who wins.

We just don't want her to win.

That's the girl to beat.

We're going to give everything we can

to take her down."

And that target got

to be also a blessing.

Because if I didn't have that target,

I would never have been Serena Williams.

[exciting music playing]