Status Updates From Pe linie

“One of the great things about tennis is it doesn’t give you any time to dwell on your mistakes. Spend too much time on one and you’ll make another. And another. There’s always a next point to occupy your full attention”.

Together, Venus and I reached another Wimbledon final that year—in women's doubles, beating Lisa Raymond of the United States and Samantha Stosur of Australia in the finals.

I don' think I've ever felt so alone, so vulnerable. 🎾

The one bad sign was a blister that very quickly developed on my foot. I hadn't seen that coming, but I should have.

When you meet with such beautiful and talented women, you must stand.

Have you ever done something or been somewhere that left you feeling exactly right? For me, that feeling found me on the coast of West Africa, on a goodwill trip to Ghana and Senegal I made with Isha, Lyn, and my mom in November 2006. 🇬🇭

But after that I lapsed into serious downhill mode. My knee was fine, as this recent mini run had demonstrated, but looking back I think my head wasn't in the game.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was slipping into a depression.

My baby's gone, isn't she?

Have you heard from Tunde? I can't reach her. I think maybe something's happened.

The way it shook out, after I got past Capriati at Roland Garros and earned a spot in the finals against Venus, was I would climb to the number two spot in the rankings, no matter what happened.

I was on an early flight from LaGuardia. No big thing. But then, just after eight thirty in the morning, I awoke with a start. My heart was racing. I'd always had a keen intuitive sense, and here I had this strange, uneasy feeling.

Somehow, Daddy was able to negotiate this tremendous Reebok deal for V, but after that it seemed nobody was really interested in me. I guess there wasn't enough hype to lift two sisters to such heights, so I was grounded.

All that back time in California, I looked over at Daddy's court and wanted to be working with him, but now that I'd finally gotten what I wanted I found myself looking over at Venus's court and wanting to work with the other coaches.

I remember growing to hate the courts where we played because they were so close to our house. Up until this time, we'd get into the car to go to wherever we were playing.

The routine in those days was to start each day with tennis.