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My Life: Queen of the Court
Explosive and revealing autobiography from one of the most successful and popular women tennis players of the modern era.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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838 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 19, 2014
The Williams' sister story is exemplary. Their father was not rich, he did not know how to play tennis and the two sisters were not even born. Yet he imagined a plan where he will have two more girls who will become tennis world number one. He wrote it and implemented it.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I marveled at this incredible story of faith. I also enjoyed peering inside Serena Williams' psyche and drive. In this book, this is what I have learned about motivation:
1. Plan, set your goals and work intensely at convincing yourself:
Serena Williams use all techniques available like affirmations or visualizations. She forces herself to think positively and avoid negative feelings.
She shares the contents of numerous post-its she sticks on her tennis bag. One of them reads: "Be positive. Have only positivity going through your body. Be the best. Being the best starts by acting like U R the best. Believing U R the best. Becoming the best. Believe. Become. "
She also writes: "I kept telling and telling myself until I finally believed it."
2. Master "doublethink":
In a tennis game, there is only one winner. Yet, at the highest level, it is likely that both players have worked on their belief system and conditioned themselves to win. How do you continue to believe while reality clashes with your beliefs ? In his book "Bounce", Matthew Syed introduces the concept of "doublethink" or "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them." He explains that "top performers have taught themselves to ratchet up their optimism at the point of performance, to mould the evidence to fit their beliefs rather than the other way around." In other words, on the court, you need to believe wholeheartedly that you will win. In training, you need to look at your game with lucidity to improve any weaknesses.
3. Ground yourself:
It is not a secret that Serena Williams benefits from a supporting family base. Reading Serena's biography, it goes even further. At important time in her life, she found motivation in a higher purpose. She relates her trip to West Africa and her visits of the slave castles. "I came away thinking I was part of the strongest race in human history". And follows a new post-it: "Just do it. U want / NEED to win. Nothing is too hard for U. Nothing is too tough for U. It's U and only U !!! U R part of the strongest people alive. Nothing is worse than what your grandparents and great-grandparents went through. Nothing is more difficult. Nothing. Get up, get out and make yourself / your people happy and proud !"
4. Welcome difficulties:
Serena seems to thrive on challenges. She uses past failures to re-energize herself.
Serena Williams used all the negativity at the Australian open in 2009 to fuel her will to win. "The real push came from taking all those negatives and mashing them together into a great big positive. I put in my head that I would not be beaten down. By my critics. By my peers. By my sponsors. By my opponents. Together, it became my silent fuel, to power me through these next paces. I would not be dismissed. I would prove everyone wrong, and in so doing I would prove something to myself."
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I marveled at this incredible story of faith. I also enjoyed peering inside Serena Williams' psyche and drive. In this book, this is what I have learned about motivation:
1. Plan, set your goals and work intensely at convincing yourself:
Serena Williams use all techniques available like affirmations or visualizations. She forces herself to think positively and avoid negative feelings.
She shares the contents of numerous post-its she sticks on her tennis bag. One of them reads: "Be positive. Have only positivity going through your body. Be the best. Being the best starts by acting like U R the best. Believing U R the best. Becoming the best. Believe. Become. "
She also writes: "I kept telling and telling myself until I finally believed it."
2. Master "doublethink":
In a tennis game, there is only one winner. Yet, at the highest level, it is likely that both players have worked on their belief system and conditioned themselves to win. How do you continue to believe while reality clashes with your beliefs ? In his book "Bounce", Matthew Syed introduces the concept of "doublethink" or "the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them." He explains that "top performers have taught themselves to ratchet up their optimism at the point of performance, to mould the evidence to fit their beliefs rather than the other way around." In other words, on the court, you need to believe wholeheartedly that you will win. In training, you need to look at your game with lucidity to improve any weaknesses.
3. Ground yourself:
It is not a secret that Serena Williams benefits from a supporting family base. Reading Serena's biography, it goes even further. At important time in her life, she found motivation in a higher purpose. She relates her trip to West Africa and her visits of the slave castles. "I came away thinking I was part of the strongest race in human history". And follows a new post-it: "Just do it. U want / NEED to win. Nothing is too hard for U. Nothing is too tough for U. It's U and only U !!! U R part of the strongest people alive. Nothing is worse than what your grandparents and great-grandparents went through. Nothing is more difficult. Nothing. Get up, get out and make yourself / your people happy and proud !"
4. Welcome difficulties:
Serena seems to thrive on challenges. She uses past failures to re-energize herself.
Serena Williams used all the negativity at the Australian open in 2009 to fuel her will to win. "The real push came from taking all those negatives and mashing them together into a great big positive. I put in my head that I would not be beaten down. By my critics. By my peers. By my sponsors. By my opponents. Together, it became my silent fuel, to power me through these next paces. I would not be dismissed. I would prove everyone wrong, and in so doing I would prove something to myself."
November 15, 2012
An interesting book about an amazing sports woman. The book seems to have little influence from a "real" author so is a bit hard to read in places, but still an interesting insight into what Serena's life is like.
December 16, 2019
This biography about Serena Williams was inspiring as a fellow tennis player. It displayed how she came from nothing, growing up in the worst part of Los Angeles, and is now considerably the best at what she does. She has made a career out of what her dad taught her and her sister, Venus, when they were young girls. He had little to no money and was still trying his best to give his girls a good, stable career in a lucrative sport. In this book, I got to read exactly what was going through her head in a specific match against Venus. It shows the immense amount of focus and concentration this amazing game takes. It also talks about some of the people In the tennis industry that became jealous of her and her sister's talents, but they didn't let that get to them. They kept doing what they did best, winning grand slam after grand slam. Even though this book is not completely up to date, it still shows how successful she was, even when she hadn't hit the peak of her tennis career.
February 19, 2024
Some of the stuff she says is so cringe 😭
April 24, 2013
I decided to read this autobiography because I'm a tennis player myself in the making, and Serena Williams is one of the best players of All Time and she's an amazing inspiration to many young tennis players around the world. I absolutely loved this book. It was very interesting to experience Serena's life through her eyes in this autobiography and it's what I enjoyed most. Serena was just a young girl living in Compton, USA in a family with not much money. She lived with her mother, Oracene Price, father, Richard Williams and her 4 older sisters: Yetunde, Lyndrea and Isha Price, her half-sisters, and her only full sister, Venus Williams. Venus is also one of the best tennis players in the world and plays alongside Serena. One day, their father was just watching a tennis match on TV and he couldn't believe how much money these women were making "just from hitting a tennis ball". The next day, he came home and said to his wife, "We need to make two more kids and make them into tennis superstars." Richard and Oracene taught themselves the game. They learnt everything they knew about tennis from a book, literally. All the sisters were into tennis but after a while, the 3 half sisters drifted off from it and only Venus and Serena continued. They practised hard every single day with their father, who taught them everything he knew about tennis, everything he learnt from a book. I was truly amazed at this. They were brought up with determination, competitiveness, a whole lot of heart and guts and MANY other things. Serena came from a poor background with not much of anything, but that certainly didn't stop her from becoming what she is today; one of the most decorated players in the history of women's tennis and the top-earning female athlete of All Time. This just goes to show and really emphasizes that if you put your mind to something, you can truly do it and really achieve more than you expect. One of my favourite quotes from this book is "...Good thoughts are powerful. Negatives thoughts are weak. Decide what U want to be, have, do and think the thoughts of it. Your vision will become your life. Hold on to the thought of what U want. Make it absolutely clear in your mind. U become what U think about most. U attract what you think about most. Think. Do. Be." I really like this quote because it expresses the true mind set of an athlete, in my opinion. Having the dream, the goal set, and being 'hungry' and determined to live it, do it and be it as quoted. Because tennis is not only a physical sport, but the mental side of it is just as important. It's another one of the many things I admire about Serena; she is very mentally fit and has a very strong mind set. Overall, I would recommend this book to many of my friends because I enjoyed it a lot and I love it.
April 21, 2010
Interesting that Serena and Venus's path to tennis fame was quite different to the usual formula of making your way up through the junior ranks. Their father, along with their close family relationships played a very important role in their success. I felt this book would have been better written after Serena retires, giving her a few more years to mature.
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May 11, 2017I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
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February 15, 2014
A candid account of her journey to the top, even including the little twisted mind of revenge to fuel her game and have a streak of a few consecutive wins.
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July 5, 2015i want to read this book
August 15, 2021
I am not really a autobiography person but went in with an openmind to learn more about Serena - I was really pleasantly surprised by this book and story. Her family helped her rise through the ashes and succeed in a space that had very few people look like her. She was highly scrutinized, looked down upon, and body shamed from a very young age. I found this to be really inspiring and a great reminder that even one of the best athletes in the world is self-conscious but pushes through
June 23, 2018
Honest, open, self aware and inspiring! Serena seems to have done this mostly alone so it’s not the greatest bit of literature but it makes the read even more inspiring as you feel like she’s telling you her story in a personal one to one. And what a story it is!
November 25, 2018
I enjoyed the book. Her journey to the top of tennis (and comeback years later) goes to show achieving towards your full potential requires undying (it can ebb and flow but never die) vision, commitment and love for yourself. Thanks for sharing this snapshot of your life and career!
July 18, 2022
As a tennis fan, I found this book very interesting. It gave me some insight into the early years of Serena and the way her mindset developed. As she says, her perspectives may change further along the line.
August 15, 2022
This has to be one of the most inspiring autobiographies I've read. To witness Serena's transformational journey from the area of Compton to being an all-time GOAT for women's tennis. I feel inspired and I want to leave my mark.
July 13, 2019
A light read but nonetheless a fascinating insight into Serena Williams' life.
March 28, 2020
Truly a queen
August 8, 2022
This was actually excellent, which I was not expecting!
Want to read
November 25, 2022lm
September 12, 2024
Excellent saga of serenas early career and huge challenges.
October 16, 2025
I think I fell in love with Serena and her story whilst reading this book. So inspiring.
June 19, 2017
An engaging memoir. Reviewed here: https://wetellatale.wordpress.com/201...
May 23, 2020
What an inspirational woman. She has truly changed my outlook on sports, especially that of tennis. I am a bit disappointed with the vague references to the racism and sexism she has suffered but it was her choice to frame those events however she pleased.
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June 12, 2013Is So Special for me, I Want read!
November 30, 2015
Interesting to see an insight of Serena, never knew that side of her.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews